Pegasus: alleged spyware targeting of journalists and opposition

What happened

On 18 July 2021, a consortium of seventeen news organisations coordinated by Forbidden Stories, with technical analysis by Amnesty International’s Security Lab, published the Pegasus Project. A leaked list of some 50,000 phone numbers selected as potential surveillance targets of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware included roughly 300 verified Indian numbers: journalists, opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, election strategists, serving ministers, constitutional-court staff, and activists. Forensic examination confirmed Pegasus infection or traces on several of the Indian phones tested. NSO Group states that it sells Pegasus only to vetted government agencies.

What the official record shows

The government declined, in Parliament and before the Supreme Court, to confirm or deny whether it had purchased Pegasus, citing national security. In October 2021 the Supreme Court — observing that the state cannot get “a free pass every time” national security is invoked — appointed a technical committee overseen by former judge R.V. Raveendran. In August 2022 the committee reported that it had found malware on 5 of the 29 phones examined but could not conclusively establish it was Pegasus; the bench recorded, in open court, that “the government did not cooperate” with the inquiry. The report itself remains sealed.

Where it stands

No official finding has confirmed or refuted government use of Pegasus against Indian citizens — which is why this entry is labelled alleged. What is on record: verified forensic infections, a government that refused to answer the question before Parliament and the Supreme Court, a sealed expert report, and a judicial observation of non-cooperation. The petitions remain before the Supreme Court.