New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member technical committee to investigate the allegations that the Pegasus software was used to snoop on Indian citizens, including journalists and political leaders.
Pegasus is a military-grade spyware made by Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group Technologies, which is only sold to “vetted governments”.
Multiple petitions were filed at the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the matter. Revelations have raised questions about whether the Indian government was illegally snooping on its critics.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Chief Justice NV Ramana said former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran will oversee the functioning of the committee along with former Research and Analysis Wing chief Alok Joshi and cybersecurity expert Sundeep Oberoi.
The committee also comprises professors of cybersecurity and computers science Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Anil Gumaste, Ramana said in the order.
The court asked the committee to investigate the allegations expeditiously and listed the matter for next hearing after eight weeks.
Ramana noted that submissions made by the petitioners deserved merit as there was “no specific denial” on the allegations from the Centre.
On September 13, the Supreme Court had reserved its order on the petitions after the Centre refused to file an affidavit in the case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that filing an affidavit on whether the spyware was used will “not serve national interest”. He had also argued that the allegations of spying “cannot be a subject matter of an affidavit or debate in court or public discourse”.
In his order on Wednesday, the chief justice also said that restriction on privacy can only be imposed in matters of national security. However, he added in the order: “…This does not mean that the state gets a free pass every time the spectre of ‘national security’ is raised.”
Ramana noted that in a democratic country, “indiscriminate spying on individuals” cannot be allowed without following the procedures established by law.
“It is undeniable that under surveillance it affects the right and freedom of people and how it is exercised,” he said. “It also about freedom of press and the important role played by them, such technology may have chilling effect on right to press.” Web Desk
