No dealings with NSO Group, defence ministry tells House
NEW DELHI: The defence ministry on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that it has had no dealings with Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, which is at the centre of a global controversy over the misuse of its Pegasus spyware to hack phones of journalists, activists and politicians. In response to a question on the subject in the Upper House, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said, “Ministry of defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group technologies.”
The ministry’s one-line response came at a time when the Opposition has stalled Parliament over the Pegasus snooping row.
The defence ministry on Monday told Rajya Sabha that it has had no dealings with Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, which is at the centre of a global controversy over the misuse of its Pegasus spyware to hack phones of journalists, activists and politicians.
In response to a question on the subject in the Upper House, minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said, “Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies.”
The minister responded to a question from CPI-M’s V Sivadasan, who sought to enquire about the expenditure incurred by the ministry including money spent on purchases made from foreign countries during the last three years.
The ministry’s one-line response to the query pertaining to the NSO Group comes at a time when the Opposition parties have continuously disrupted the functioning of the Parliament over the Pegasus snooping controversy.
The Opposition has been consistent in its demand for a discussion on the matter in Parliament.
On August 6, Hindustan Times reported that the Centre had sought to disallow in the Rajya Sabha, a question seeking details on whether government entered into a contract with NSO Group., stating that “the ongoing issue of Pegasus” is sub-judice after “several PILs have been filed in the Supreme Court.”
The central government wrote to the Rajya Sabha secretariat last week seeking that a “Provisionally Admitted Question” (PAQ) asked by Communits Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam scheduled to be answered on August 12 in the Upper House, not be allowed.
It added, “According to Rule 47 (xix) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Council of States (Rajya Sabha), dealing with admissibility of questions, an admitted question “shall not ask for information on matter which is under adjudication by a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India”.
The Pegasus row erupted on July 18 after an international investigative consortium reported that the phones of Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were among the 50,000 numbers from around the world that were potentially targeted by the Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software.
NSO says its software is sold only to government customers.
To be sure, as the methodology of the investigation explains, the presence of a number does not indicate the individual’s phone was hacked — just that it was of interest.
The government denied any involvement. The opposition, however, has called for a probe into the allegations.
The government has neither confirmed nor denied whether it has purchased the spyware. NSO Group has on multiple occasions said that it offers services only to vetted government clients. The company has disputed the leaked list of numbers as those targeted by its clients.
Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies.
AJAY BHATT, MoS, Defence