The Opposition parties are discussing jointly petitioning the Supreme Court for an investigation into the Pegasus allegations, with a decision likely after the Congress consults its lawyers.

The proposal has been discussed twice at meetings of Opposition leaders, with the dominant view in favour of taking the legal recourse.

The only counter-argument, forwarded by some, is that an adverse court judgment can provide relief to the government, as with Rafale in 2019.

The Congress had been opposed to moving court over the Rafale deal but lawyer Prashant Bhushan and former BJP politicians Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie went to the Supreme Court, which refused to order an inquiry.

That judgment came from a bench headed by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who has since retired and been awarded a Rajya Sabha membership. Most Opposition leaders are optimistic about any apex court judgment now.

The leaders feel that a joint Opposition petition would also create moral pressure at a time many other countries have initiated investigations into similar allegations of snooping within their borders via Pegasus, a spyware developed by Israel’s NSO group.

The Supreme Court has already promised to take up next week the three petitions moved by an advocate, a CPM parliamentarian and two journalists seeking a court-monitored probe into the snooping allegations.

Over 500 citizens, including eminent rights defenders, have written an open letter to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana seeking the apex court’s immediate intervention to demand answers from the Centre on the controversy.

A senior politician who attended an Opposition meeting where the matter was discussed told The Telegraph: “Many leaders suggested the parties should jointly petition the Supreme Court. The idea is under consideration. The Congress has to make up its mind. They are probably discussing different aspects of this move with their lawyers.”

While all sources asserted a unity of purpose within the Opposition, some felt that the Congress needed to put its house in order to ensure a sharper strategy against the government.

“Some of us insisted on Rahul Gandhi’s presence at the Opposition meetings. The difference was visible when he attended the meeting one day,” an Opposition politician said.

“Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress Rajya Sabha leader) neither commands that kind of respect, nor is he capable of articulating the Opposition’s concerns forcefully. The Congress will have to put its best foot forward at this critical juncture.”

The worry about “articulation” owes to the realisation that the Pegasus controversy has lacked a strong appeal for the rural masses, at least till now.

“The perspective given by the television channels that have a rural presence has not been favourable to Opposition politics. What is needed is a narrative in which Pegasus is woven together with the price rise and the farmers’ movement,” an Opposition leader said.

It has to be hammered home that the government has failed on all fronts, another Opposition leader said.

“The economic mess, Covid mismanagement, unemployment and farm distress cannot be pushed aside in the effort to highlight snooping. The messaging should be about the bouquet of issues even while Pegasus remains the engine,” he said, pointing to the coming elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, which have large rural populations.

The Opposition expects the government to call an all-party meeting in the next couple of days, where it will attempt to paint an all-round gloomy picture.

It will also try to corner the government on its refusal to order a probe into the Pegasus controversy when several countries, including Israel, have initiated inquiries.

“When the Israel government had to raid NSO, which has now suspended the use of Pegasus by some clients who are accused of misuse, how can the (Narendra) Modi government say there won’t be any discussion, any inquiry?” Kharge told reporters.

“It’s clear from developments in Israel and France that illegal snooping was going on. In November last year, then IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had referred to 121 (people) being spied upon. How can the government change its stance now?”

Current IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has denied that illegal surveillance is possible in India while the government has refused to say whether it has bought Pegasus.

Naidu ‘no-trust’

An Opposition leader said: “Another issue that has agitated the Opposition leaders is the attitude of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, M. Venkaiah Naidu. Some leaders insisted on a no-confidence motion against him. Even that idea hasn’t been rejected so far.”

Another Opposition politician explained the unease with Naidu, saying: “There is something called the sense of the House. Both the Lok Sabha Speaker and the (Rajya Sabha) Chairman have behaved like government spokespersons. They have been party to crushing the Opposition.

“We are not allowed to speak; even television doesn’t show our activities. Parliament doesn’t belong to the government. We don’t have the numbers in the Lok Sabha but the members are in a mood to send out a strong message by moving a no-confidence motion against Naidu in the Rajya Sabha.”