Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced the appointment of a panel to investigate the Pegasus phone-hacking incident in the state on Monday. This comes only days after her nephew, Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee, was named as a prospective surveillance target.
Mamata Banerjee's investigating team includes retired justices, Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya and Justice MB Lokur. The decision to create a panel comprised of retired judges was made during a special cabinet meeting headed by the chief minister during the day.
This is a major step because it is the first formal investigation into claims that an Indian client of Israel's NSO Group used Pegasus to hack hundreds of phones of opposition leaders, journalists, government officials, and even a constitutional authority between 2017 and 2019.
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"We expected the Centre to appoint an inquiry commission or to launch a court-monitored investigation into the phone-hacking issue. But the Centre is sitting idle. As a result, we decided to create a "commission of inquiry" to investigate the situation," said CM Banerjee.
"I'm hoping that this tiny step may serve as a wake-up call to others. We'd want to get started as soon as possible. A large number of Bengalis have been tapped,” she continued.
"The names of West Bengal people have appeared on the Pegasus target list. The Centre is attempting to spy on everyone. The commission will investigate this unlawful hacking," CM went on to say.
Ms. Banerjee described the Israeli military-grade malware as "dangerous" and "ferocious," and said she couldn't even communicate to other opposition leaders because she was afraid her phone had been tapped.
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She launched a direct attack on Prime Minister Modi, saying, "Please forgive me, Mr. Modi. I'm not going after you personally. But you, and the Home Minister, are deploying agencies against opposition figures. You are misusing the agencies."
Along with Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, election strategist Prashant Kishor was also allegedly included on the list of people targeted for monitoring by the Pegasus malware. Mr. Kishor had played a significant role in Mamata's historic win in West Bengal against BJP in assembly elections.
Since the NSO Group has consistently said that it only sells Pegasus to "vetted governments," the opposition's accusations against the center have sparked uproar, disruption in parliament, and calls from Congress for a joint committee investigation.
The center has rebuffed calls for any form of investigation, claiming that the suspected type of surveillance was unachievable given the country's legal framework's existing checks and balances.