Non-cooperation often evidence of guilt, says Sibal on SC's Pegasus remark

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal attacked the government over a Supreme Court-appointed committee's observation that the Centre did not cooperate with the Pegasus probe

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday attacked the government over a Supreme Court-appointed committee's observation that the Centre did not cooperate with the Pegasus probe, saying "non-cooperation" is often an evidence of guilt.

The apex court on Thursday said the technical panel appointed by it to probe the unauthorised use of Pegasus has found some malware in five of the 29 mobile phones examined, but could not conclude whether it was due to the Israeli spyware.

After perusing the report submitted by former Supreme Court Justice R V Raveendran, Chief Justice N V Ramana also noted that the central government did not cooperate with the probe.

"Pegasus Supreme Court appointed Committee observed that the Government refused to cooperate in the probe. 5 of the 29 phones were infected with some malware," Sibal said.

"Often non-cooperation is evidence of guilt. Time for government to come clean!" he said on Twitter.

The top court last year ordered a probe into the allegations of the use of Pegasus spyware by government agencies for targeted surveillance of politicians, journalists and activists, and appointed technical and supervisory committees to look into the matter.