Pegasus scandal shows that intelligence gathering urgently needs parliamentary oversight in India

With allegations that opposition leaders, Union ministers, bureaucrats, an election commissioner and even a Supreme Court judge could have been spied on, the Pegasus spyware scandal points to one of the most egregious misuses of power in India’s history.

The Israeli manufacturer of Pegasus insists that it only sells its weapons-grade spyware to governments, prompting allegations that this operation was carried out by the Union government.

In a more ideal world, this would have meant India’s Parliament swinging into action, with MPs holding the government to account. That is exactly what an elected legislature’s job is in a democracy. Except, curiously in India, Parliament has very little power over the Union executive when it comes to surveillance. Uniquely for a democracy, in fact, India’s intelligence agencies function as free agents with no democratic oversight.

Colonial hangover

Of India’s intelligence agencies, the two most prominent are the Research and Analysis Wing – responsible for gathering foreign intelligence – and the Intelligence Bureau, which works in the domestic theatre. A 2019 report by Asia Times held that “that at least one federal intelligence agency that concentrates on generating intelligence from every state was one of the buyers of the Pegasus spying software”.

The Intelligence Bureau traces itself back to the British Indian Empire of the late 19th…

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