Pegasus Scandal: Supreme Court will set up committee to investigate the matter
In the Pegasus scandal, the Supreme Court said that it will constitute an expert committee to investigate the matter. The order will be issued next week. The CJI said during the hearing of a case that we wanted to issue the order this week. They are forming an expert committee, but some members have refused to join due to personal reasons, so the matter is getting delayed. CJI NV Ramana told this to senior advocate CU Singh. CU Singh is also appearing for the petitioners in the Pegasus case. On September 13, the Supreme Court had reserved the verdict in this case. In this, the decision will come on 12 petitions. The central government had refused to file a detailed affidavit citing public interest and security of the nation. There are petitions by advocate ML Sharma, CPI(M) MP John Britas, journalist N Ram, former IIM professor Jagdeep Chokkar, Narendra Mishra, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Rupesh Kumar Singh, SNM Abdi, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and the Editors Guild of India.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the government cannot afford to sensationalise the issue. Protecting the privacy of citizens is also the priority of the government, but at the same time the government cannot inhibit national security. All such techniques are dangerous. The interception is not illegal in any way. Let all these be investigated by an adjective committee. These domain experts will not have any relation with the government. Their report will come directly to the Supreme Court. The Center said that we cannot make this information public through affidavit. If I say that I am not using or not using any particular software then it will give an opportunity to terrorist elements to get bitten by technology. During the hearing, the Supreme Court expressed displeasure with the central government on the Pegasus issue.
CJI Ramana said that you are going back to the same thing again and again. We want to know what the government is doing. We are not going into issues of national interest. Our limited concern is about the people. The appointment of the committee is not an issue. The purpose of the affidavit should be to show where you stand. According to the statement of your own IT Minister in Parliament that it is difficult to assess the phone without technical analysis.
The CJI cited the statement of the then IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in 2019. It was suspected of spying on some citizens of India. Mehta referred to the statement given by the current IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav in Parliament. The government has denied any espionage. The CJI further said that we have repeatedly given opportunity to the Center for affidavit. Now we are left with no option but to issue orders. Appointing a committee or conducting an inquiry is not the question here. If you file an affidavit, we will know what your stand is. For petitioner N Ram, Kapil Sibal said that it is the responsibility of the government to respond. It is the duty of the government to protect the privacy of the citizens. Spyware is completely illegal. If the government now says that it will not file an affidavit, then it should be considered that Pegasus is being used illegally. Earlier in the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said on behalf of the Center that filing a detailed affidavit in this regard is being considered. Earlier, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Center and sought its response.
The bench had said it would examine the Centre’s proposal to constitute a committee of experts to look into all aspects of the matter. At the same time, the central government had to repeatedly say which software was used to intercept the phone for security purposes. It cannot be disclosed publicly. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central government, argued that various types of software are used by security and military agencies to investigate anti-national and terrorist activities. He said that no government will make public what software it is using so that terrorist networks can modify their systems and avoid tracking. Mehta said that the central government is ready to place all the facts regarding monitoring before an expert technical committee, which can give a report to the court. On the apex court’s query whether the Center is ready to file a detailed affidavit, Mehta said the two-page affidavit filed adequately addresses the concerns raised by petitioner Enram and others.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal and others, appearing for the petitioners, said that we also do not want the government to give any information about the security of the state. If Pegasus were to be used as a technology, they would have to answer. The bench said that we will discuss what needs to be done. We will see if there is a need to constitute a committee of experts or any other committee. The Central Government had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that all the allegations made in the petitions are baseless and baseless. The Center had said that a committee of experts would investigate the entire matter. The Center has now told the Supreme Court that it is not going to file a detailed affidavit on petitions seeking probe into the alleged use of spyware Pegasus. After taking time twice, the central government has changed its stand.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the petitioners have sought an inquiry into the illegal interception. We had also filed an affidavit. The Solicitor General said that the stand of the Central Government is that whether a particular software was used or not, it cannot be a matter of debate in an affidavit or in court or in public, as the issue has its disadvantages. The Solicitor General says that the central government does not want to file an affidavit on the use of Pegasus spyware. Tushar Mehta said that we would not like to put it in an affidavit in the larger public interest and security of the nation.
