Pegasus inquiry panel found malware in 5 out of 29 phones: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court-appointed panels probing the unauthorised use of Pegasus found some kind of malware in five mobile phones out of the 29 examined but it could not be concluded that it was due to the Israeli spyware.
The panels also said that the Centre did not cooperate with the Pegasus probe, a Supreme Court bench said on Thursday after perusing the report submitted by former apex court Justice R V Raveendran.
One thing (the) committee has said that the Government of India has not cooperated. The same stand you took here, you have taken there, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said.
The bench said the overseeing panel has submitted a lengthy report in three parts and one of the parts suggested amending the law to protect the right to privacy of citizens and ensure cyber security of the nation.
Referring to a report of the technical panel, the bench said it was little concerned as it appeared that out of 29 phones, which were submitted to the technical committee for examination, five had some kind of malware but it cannot be said that these are due to Pegasus .
The bench said the report has suggestions on protecting the citizens' right to privacy, future course of action, accountability, amending the law to improve privacy protection and the grievances redressal mechanism.
It said the report of the overseeing judge Justice Raveendran, which is general in nature, would be uploaded on its website. The bench said it would consider the plea to give redacted part of other reports to the parties.
"It is a huge report. Let us see what portions we can give, it said, adding there was also a request not to release the report.
These are technical issues. So far as Justice Raveendran's report is concerned, we will upload it on the website, the CJI said.
Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal and Rakesh Dwivedi urged the bench to release redacted report to the litigants.
When the bench, on perusal of the report, said the Centre did not cooperate, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta responded by saying he was not aware of that. The court will now hear the matter after four weeks.
The top court on May 20 had extended by four weeks the time for submitting the report by the apex court-appointed technical and supervisory committees to look into the Pegasus row.
The bench, which on October 27, last year had ordered a probe into the allegations of use of Israeli spyware by government agencies for targeted surveillance of politicians, journalists, and activists, has now fixed the case for further consideration in July.
The panel, which included three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks, and hardware, was asked to inquire, investigate and determine whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by a former apex court judge R V Raveendran.
The panel members were Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P, and Ashwin Anil Gumaste.
Justice Raveendran, who is heading the monitoring panel, has been assisted by former IPS officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman of Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation/ International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee - in monitoring the inquiry of the technical panel.
The committee is requested to prepare the report after a thorough inquiry and place it expeditiously before the court.
The apex court, in its order, had said that the probe panel would be empowered to enquire and investigate what steps or actions have been taken by the Centre after reports were published in 2019 about the hacking of WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens, using the Pegasus suite of spyware, whether any Pegasus suite was acquired by the Union of India, or any state government, or any central or state agency for use against the citizens of India.
An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
