Pegasus Row: Supreme Court says allegations are serious if reports are true

By - Divisha Srivastava*

The national media has been buzzing in recent days with news of Pegasus snoopgate that shows that hundreds of phone lines may have been followed, some of them hacked, using an Israeli spyware called Pegasus.

Snooping allegations using military-grade spyware Pegasus have made it impossible for Parliament to operate regularly. The administration has been attacked from all sides, with the opposition and activists disputing the government’s claim that its agencies have done no unlawful acts. 

Advocate M.L. Sharma had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking a probe by an SIT appointed by the Supreme Court into the alleged use of Pegasus by the Central government to monitor the phones of activists, journalists, and politicians. 

Senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar had also filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking a probe into reports on the alleged use of Pegasus spyware to spy on union ministers, opposition leaders, and 40 journalists among others by a sitting or former Supreme Court judge.

Also Read - Senior journalists N. Ram, Sashi Kumar move Supreme Court seeking probe into alleged use of Pegasus for mass surveillance.

The Editors Guild of India had also approached the Supreme Court, requesting that a special investigation team (SIT) investigate the central government’s participation in the Pegasus surveillance accusations. According to the Editors Guild petition, the alleged "indiscriminate deployment" of military-grade surveillance equipment is an exercise that "poisons the core of democracy."

Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, whose phone was allegedly penetrated with Pegasus spyware, moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to the government to disclose data on “all investigation, authorisation and/or orders pertaining to the use of Pegasus on the petitioner”. In this case, three more journalists namely SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, and Rupesh Kumar Singh and activist Ipsa Shatakshi, are said to have approached the Supreme Court.

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The central government denied the claims of snooping with the IT ministry in July, claiming that no "unauthorised surveillance" had taken place. The Israeli company that created Pegasus, NSO Group, claimed that their spyware was only for use by government agencies in the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

On August 5, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana heard a slew of Pegasus-related pleas filed by activists, lawyers, journalists, and politicians. They have sought an investigation into spying accusations made in Amnesty International's July report. The bench noted that the allegations are severe if the claims are correct and that the truth must be revealed. The bench has listed all the connected matters on August 10 for further hearing.

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*Divisha Srivastava is a 1^st year student pursuing B.B.A.LL.B from S.N.D.T School of Law, Mumbai, Maharashtra.