Digvijaya Singh also asked if data gleaned through hacking was presented as evidence in court.
The WhatsApp snooping row came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha today, with the Congress-led Opposition claiming that only a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe can bring out the truth in a case where allegations of hacking are being raised against the centre itself.
Congress MP Digvijaya Singh raised several questions on the ongoing probe into the hacking incident, and accused the centre of using a spyware created by Israeli firm NSO to spy on 121 mobile phone users - mostly activists and journalists - earlier this year. "How did the government conclude that none of its agencies were behind the unauthorised hacking? Did it carry out any inquiry before arriving at that conclusion?" he asked.
Mr Singh also asked if the Pegasus spyware was used to target those suspected of working against the government, and whether it was presented as evidence in court by probe agencies. "In such a scenario, I ask all parties to constitute a JPC to investigate this sensitive issue connected to our fundamental rights and national security," he said, demanding that the government share the minutes of a meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and senior Facebook officials a few months ago.
The Congress leader's questions came in the wake of a Google post claiming that over 12,000 people across 149 countries were targeted by "government-backed hackers". Although it did not provide exact figures for India, a pictorial graph released by the Internet giant put it in the range of 500 users.
The centre, however, denies all charges of snooping on Internet users.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, in his address, reiterated the central government's resolve to safeguard the people's right to privacy in the Rajya Sabha. "Digital players - both Indian and foreign - are welcome to contribute to our growing market, but they need to understand that the safety and security of Indians is of prime importance. Appropriate action will be taken if they do not erect appropriate security walls to ensure this," he said.
He also said that the government had issued a notice to NSO on November 26 to seek details on the malware and its impact, and claimed that WhatsApp was yet to provide the names of people impacted by the privacy breach.
WhatsApp, with over 400 million users in India, had earlier "expressed regret" over the Pegasus snooping racket and issued assurances that it would take all possible steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
(With inputs from PTI)