Democracy Dies in Darkness

India’s Supreme Court orders independent probe following Pegasus Project investigation

A three-member committee appointed by the top court will investigate allegations of use of spyware to surveil Indians

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Updated October 27, 2021 at 8:05 a.m. EDT|Published October 27, 2021 at 2:32 a.m. EDT
Congress Party protesters march on July 20 to accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of using military-grade spyware to monitor political opponents, journalists and activists in New Delhi. (Manish Swarup/AP)

NEW DELHI — India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered an independent probe into reports that phone numbers belonging to journalists, activists and political figures in India were found on a list that included some numbers selected for surveillance by clients of the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group.

The Pegasus Project, first published in July by a global media consortium that included The Washington Post, revealed that hundreds of numbers from India appeared on the global list of more than 50,000 phone numbers, which included some associated with heads of state.