Citizens' Accountability LedgerWho owned the mess? 25 years, every party, on the record

Case 51 · Rights and dissent

Pegasus. Spyware, and a refusal to answer

18 Jul 2021

Neither confirmed nor denied

1,854 days since Recorded outcome: Neither confirmed nor denied.

Human cost Est
Journalists, activists, opposition figures and officials on the alleged target list
Financial cost
Not quantified. The damage is to a free press and a fair opposition.

What happened

A global investigation reported that military-grade Pegasus spyware may have targeted the phones of Indian journalists, activists and opposition politicians.

Claim against record

What the government said

The government dismissed the reporting as an attempt to malign Indian democracy and cited national security.

What the record shows

Neither confirmed nor denied

Rather than say plainly whether the state had bought or used the spyware, the government neither confirmed nor denied it, and then withheld cooperation from the Supreme Court's own technical committee, which reported it could not get the government to engage. A clean denial was never offered. The question was simply left to rot.

Contested / alleged

Whether the government itself deployed Pegasus remains unconfirmed; the SC panel found malware on some devices but could not conclusively attribute it, partly because of non-cooperation.

What accountability should have looked like

Answer under oath, place surveillance under judicial and parliamentary oversight, and legislate warrants and review.

Ministers and office-holders responsible

Naming who held the portfolio is a matter of public record. It is not by itself a finding of personal responsibility for any death or any rupee.

Sources

T1 primary record · T2 reporting · T3 partisan

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Cite or export this case

Citizens' Accountability Ledger, "Pegasus. Spyware, and a refusal to answer" (18 Jul 2021), case-15. https://whoisresponsible.xyz/case/case-15/

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