Supreme Court Sets 22 April Hearing For Pleas On Alleged Pegasus Snooping

On Friday, the Supreme Court scheduled a 22 April hearing for multiple petitions demanding an investigation into allegations that the government used Israeli spyware Pegasus for snooping.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, informed a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotishwar Singh that the case had resurfaced after a long gap and suggested an April hearing.

The bench then fixed the matter for 22 April.

SC’s Previous Actions On Pegasus Allegations

The Supreme Court previously formed a technical committee and an overseeing panel to investigate claims of Pegasus spyware used to monitor politicians, activists, and journalists.

The apex court had also appointed a committee led by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd) RV Raveendran to oversee the probe.

Former IPS officer Alok Joshi and cybersecurity expert Dr. Sundeep Oberoi assisted the committee.

The technical committee comprised Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary from the National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat; Dr. Prabaharan P from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala; and Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste from IIT Bombay, Maharashtra.

In its findings, the committee reported that Pegasus was not detected in the 29 mobile phones examined, though malware was present in five devices.

Despite this, no conclusive evidence linked the malware to Pegasus.

The committees also noted that the Indian government did not cooperate with the investigation.

The report contained details of malware findings, public research materials, and data retrieved from private mobile devices, some of which could include confidential information.

Legal & Constitutional Concerns

The Supreme Court had previously emphasized that mass surveillance in a democracy governed by law is unacceptable.

It had tasked the Raveendran-led panel with examining the matter.

Journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, advocate ML Sharma, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, and RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya filed several petitions.

Additionally, journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Ipsa Shatakshi – who were allegedly on the list of potential Pegasus targets – along with The Editors Guild of India, also moved the court.

The petitions called for an inquiry led by a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge to investigate the allegations.

They argued that targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to privacy, as upheld in the KS Puttaswamy case under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.

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