Nothing to hide on Pegasus, panel to examine: Centre
The Centre on Monday asserted it had “nothing to hide" in the Pegasus snooping allegations and that a panel of experts will be set up to examine all issues raised even as the Supreme Court said the "reluctant" government cannot be compelled to file a detailed affidavit on pleas asking whether the spyware was used to snoop on certain citizens. A bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana would on Tuesday deliberate on whether the Centre should file a detailed affidavit in the matter, after the short one on Monday in which it also submitted that the allegations were “based on conjectures and surmises or on other unsubstantiated media reports or incomplete or uncorroborated material”. The batch of pleas also sought to know from the Centre if it took steps to probe the allegations and wanted an independent probe into the alleged surveillance of certain eminent people in India through the use of the Israeli spyware. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted during the hearing on the pleas that the matter, if gone into on the basis of unsubstantiated reports, may have “national security implications” and it cannot be handled by asking “furnish an affidavit etc”.