New Delhi: M Venkaiah Naidu, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, said on Thursday that he is looking into the privilege petitions filed against Union Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, accusing him of 'misleading' parliament over the Pegasus issue. Following the examination, the minister will be contacted for explanation. Depending on that, the choice to accept or reject would be made.

In the Rajya Sabha, Naidu said that KC Venugopal of the Congress and two other MPs had filed a notice of privilege against the IT minister. "I'm looking into it," he explained. "After I study it, I'll have to ask the minister for clarification, and then we'll come back to you."

Following a revelation in the New York Times suggesting that the Indian government purchased Israeli spyware in 2017 as part of a USD 2 billion arms contract, leaders of the Congress, TMC, and CPI have lodged privilege motions against Vaishnaw. On the House floor, the government said it had no involvement with Pegasus and that it had never purchased the malware from the NSO Group.

The Pegasus scandal dominated the previous winter session of Parliament, with claims claiming that the government was employing military-grade Israeli spyware to target political leaders, journalists, judges, and civil society activists.

When the House reconvened earlier in the day, Naidu said that he had rejected a notice under Rule 267 on the Pegasus matter.

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