The Bench told the petitioners that the “petitions have nothing to establish that” the alleged “violation is done by the State”. The Israeli firm has said that it licenses Pegasus only to “vetted governments” for use against criminals and terrorists. Mehta replied: “If I file a one-page affidavit saying Pegasus was never used, are they willing to withdraw the petitions? Only then can we demonstrate how the government says is wrong, and I will demonstrate that.”Sibal also sought to know how the government, which is accused of having used Pegasus, could set up a committee to go into the allegations. The ramifications of the matter are wider than individual interceptions, he said — “let them (the government) state on affidavit, if they used (Pegasus) or not; if they did, under which circumstance”.

Source: Indian Express August 16, 2021 22:41 UTC