Nitish Kumar Calls For Probe In Pegasus Spyware Case, JDU First BJP Ally To Do So

Bihar CM and BJP ally Nitish Kumar on August 2 added his voice to the opposition demand for an investigation into the Pegasus spyware scandal. The scandal involves allegations that politicians, judges, journalists & others were targets of the Israeli spyware. "Such things should not be done to disturb and harass people... The whole thing should be made public," he said in remarks expected to add to the embarrassment of the BJP. The row, which erupted last month after reports by 17 media houses across the world, has snowballed into a huge political controversy. The government has come under pressure after the software vendor NSO said its clients are only vetted governments & their agencies. With the opposition parties pressing their demand for a discussion in parliament, very little work has been conducted in the Monsoon Session. On August 5, the Supreme Court will hear a clutch of petitions seeking a special investigation into the matter. Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishor, two serving Union Ministers, an ex-Election Commissioner and 40 journalists were among names in an alleged list of potential targets. More than 142 people in India were on the alleged list. Forensic analysis of some of the mobile phones by Amnesty International confirmed security breach, media houses involved in the investigation revealed.