Pegasus espionage case reached Supreme Court, demand for SIT investigation and stay on software purchase

In the Pegasus Snooping Case, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court demanding a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the court and a stay on the purchase of software. The plea has sought a probe by the SIT into reports of journalists, activists, politicians and others being allegedly spied on by government agencies using the Israeli spyware Pegasus.

The petition, filed by advocate ML Sharma, said that the Pegasus incident is a matter of deep concern and is a serious attack on Indian democracy, judiciary and the security of the country. It is ‘ethically wrong’ to monitor at a large scale and without any accountability. The petition states, ‘Privacy is not a desire to hide anything. It is such a place of our own, where our thoughts and our existence are not the means of any other purpose. It is an essential element for dignity.’

The petition states that Pegasus is not only used for listening to conversations, but through its use, complete digital information about a person’s life is acquired and this not only renders the owner of the phone helpless, but also his contacts. Everyone on the list feels that way. It said that this espionage-related disclosure would have a huge impact on national security, as the excessive growth of surveillance technology vendors is a problem for global security and human rights.

The PIL has claimed that it is being told that customers of NSO Group Company have targeted around 50,000 phone numbers since 2016. It said, ‘Pegasus is not the only surveillance tool. It is a cyber-weapon that is being used against the Indian government machinery. Even if it is official (which is doubtful), the use of Pegasus poses a threat to national security.

The petition has requested that an investigation be conducted against the ministers and all the accused who have been involved in the alleged spying of judges, opposition leaders, political figures, activists, advisers and others since 2017 and purchased Pegasus since 2017 to serve the political interests. A SIT should be formed under the supervision of the apex court to investigate and prosecute. In the petition, a request has been made to declare the purchase of Pegasus software for espionage as illegal and unconstitutional.

An international consortium of media outlets has revealed that a large number of Indians, including two Union ministers, more than 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and a judge, were used by Israel’s spy software Pegasus, sold only to government agencies. More than 300 mobile numbers of businessmen and rights activists may have been hacked. The government on Monday categorically rejected allegations of spying using Pegasus software against politicians, journalists and others in the Lok Sabha. The government said that there is a system of control and monitoring under the law of the country, in such a situation illegal surveillance is not possible and alleged that by doing so, an attempt is being made to harm the democracy of the country.