NEW DELHI, July 26 (Live Law): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday constituted an Inquiry Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya to investigate into the allegations pertaining to the Pegasus spyware scandal. A notification to this effect was issued on Monday by B.P Gopalika, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal.

The development comes days after it was revealed that the Chief Minister's nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was allegedly snooped on by the Pegasus spyware during the time of the West Bengal Assembly elections 2021. 

News portal The Wire along with 16 other media organisations had recently uncovered a 'snoop list' that showed that activists, politicians, journalists, judges and several others were the potential targets of cyber-surveillance conducted through the Israeli firm NSO Group's Pegasus software. Over the past few days, The Wire has published several reports that suggest that the Pegasus spyware has been used illegally to keep tabs on dissidents and journalists.

" Through Pegasus, everyone including the judiciary and civic society have been under surveillance. We expected the Centre under the supervision of the Supreme Court to initiate an investigation into the allegations, but they did not. West Bengal is the first State to initiate a commission of inquiry", the Chief Minister pronounced on Monday during a press conference. 

Notification Details:  The notification issued noted that mobile telephones of various public officials, politicians, journalists, members of the judiciary amongst others had been illegally hacked into using the surveillance software since 2017 resulting in the potential breach of State secrets and privacy of the individuals concerned.