SC To Form Committee To Investigate Pegasus Issue

A technical expert committee will be set up to investigate the reports of the government allegedly spying on politicians, activists, and journalists using a spyware called Pegasus, the Supreme Court said on Thursday.

It said that it wanted to pass the order this week but the matter is taking time as some experts, who were supposed to be inducted as members of the committee, expressed personal difficulties to be part of the same.

Hence, CJI NV Ramana said that the order will be passed next week after finalizing the members of the committee.

On September 13, the court had said that it will pass an interim order in two-three days on pleas seeking an independent probe into Pegasus case.

Several petitions are pending before the top court seeking a court-monitored probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.

The Centre had earlier told the apex court that it was willing to set up a committee of independent experts to examine all aspects of the alleged Pegasus snooping row. It had maintained that what software was used for an interception in the interest of national security can't be open for public debate.

Meanwhile, the petitioners' lawyers had repeatedly told the court that the Central government has evaded answering the question if it or any of its agencies have ever used the Pegasus spyware and urged the Court to direct the government to come clean on this issue.

There are many pleas filed before the top court by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya.

Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the top court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.

The pleas said snooping using military-grade spyware is a violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case (2017).