The Government of West Bengal has filed a reply in the Supreme Court on the formation of the Inquiry Committee to investigate the Pegasus case. On Wednesday, the lawyer appearing for the Bengal government said that until the Supreme Court decides on the petitions filed in the Pegasus case, the inquiry committee constituted by the Bengal government will not start the investigation in the matter.
In fact, the Mamta government had constituted a two-member committee under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur. His move was challenged in the Supreme Court. Regarding this, the lawyer appearing for Mamta government on Wednesday presented the side of Mamta government.
After this assurance from the Bengal government, the Supreme Court has included the petitions filed against the setting up of the inquiry committee in the rest of the petitions in the Pegasus case. A hearing on these has now been fixed for next week. The West Bengal government has appointed former apex court judge Justice Madan B Lokur and former Calcutta High Court chief justice Justice Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya as members of the commission of inquiry. The formation of this commission was announced by the state government last month.
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This commission was set up to investigate international media reports that more than 300 verified phone numbers in India were included in a list that were potentially kept for surveillance using Pegasus spyware. There was also talk of getting the names of many leaders, journalists and social workers in these. West Bengal was the first state, which had formed a committee to investigate the matter. TMC MPs had put pressure on the Modi government regarding this and demanded an inquiry from the retired judge.
