Yashwant Sinha Joins Push For Pegasus Probe In Supreme Court

Besides Yashwant Sinha, a batch of petitions, including by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, have sought a special probe into the Pegasus scandal.

Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha on Thursday joined the league of petitioners who have approached the Supreme Court for an investigation into the Pegasus snooping scandal, as the top court began hearing the case, noting that the allegations were "serious if newspaper reports are correct". Seeking a court-monitored probe into allegations that an Israeli spyware - sold only to governments - was used in India to target opposition leaders, journalists and others, Mr Sinha also called for directions for the creation of an oversight mechanism to deal with any surveillance-related request made by and to any ministry or government agency. Besides Mr Sinha, a batch of petitions, including by the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, have sought a special probe into the scandal. Asking the petitioners whether they have tried filing a criminal complaint on the matter and taking exception that one of the pleas named Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as parties, the court took up the cases on Thursday.