On Pegasus case CJI said – If the report is true then the allegations are really serious- The Pegasus espionage scandal, which led to a ruckus from the street to the Parliament, was heard for the first time in the Supreme Court today. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, after hearing the arguments of the petitioners, said that if the report is true then there is no doubt that the allegations are serious. At the same time, Kapil Sibal, calling the matter serious, appealed to the CJI to issue a notice to the central government. For now, the Supreme Court will now hear the matter on Tuesday. Let us tell you that various petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the Pegasus espionage case and in these petitions, a SIT investigation has been sought under the supervision of the Pegasus espionage case. These included politicians, activists, Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N. The applications made by Ram and Shashi Kumar are also included. Chief Justice N. A bench of V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant is hearing it.
What happened in the Supreme Court hearing on the Pegasus scandal-
The Supreme Court asked all the petitioners to give a copy of their petition to the Centre. Now the Supreme Court will hear the matter on Tuesday.
Senior advocate Arvind Duttar, appearing for the petitioner journalists before the Supreme Court, said that privacy of citizens as a whole and personal privacy should be considered.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for petitioner educationist Jagdeep on Pegasus espionage case, told the Supreme Court that the magnitude of the present case is huge and please consider an independent inquiry into the matter.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Chief Justice of India that I and we all want you to issue notice to the central government.
Kapil Sibal argued in the Supreme Court that journalists, public figures, constitutional authorities, court officials, academics are all targeted by spyware and the government will have to answer who bought it. Where was the hardware placed? Why didn’t the government register an FIR?
CJI said that if the report is true then there is no doubt that the allegations are serious. On Pegasus case, CJI said that there were reports of espionage in 2019. I don’t know if any effort has been made to get more information. I am not talking about the facts of each case, some people have claimed that the phone has been intercepted. There is the Telegraph Act for such complaints.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioner N. Ram and others, told the Supreme Court that this spyware is sold only to government agencies and cannot be sold to private entities. NSO technology is involved in the international arena. He further said that Pegasus is an evil or insidious technology, which enters our lives without our knowledge. This is an attack on the privacy, dignity and values of our republic.
Let us tell you that an international media association has claimed in a news that 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were included in the list of possible targets of spying through Pegasus spyware. The Editors Guild of India, in its application, has requested that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) be set up to probe the surveillance of journalists and others.
The Guild, in its application, in which senior journalist Mrinal Pandey is also the petitioner, has said that it is the job of its members and all journalists to hold all organs of the government accountable by seeking information and explanations and by continuously analyzing the successes and failures of the state. . The court will also hear the petition filed by senior journalist Pranjay Guha Thakurta. His name is included in the list of alleged people who could have been spied with the help of Pegasus.
The journalist has requested in his application that the apex court should direct the central government to make public all the material related to the investigation. Thakurta has said in his application that the existence of Pegasus will have a very adverse effect on freedom of expression in India, he has urged the court to declare the use of spyware or malware as illegal and unconstitutional.
At the same time, it has also been demanded in the PIL that the Supreme Court should order the Central Government to tell whether it has taken an order to use Pegasus spyware or not. It has been said in the petition that it is military spyware and its use on ordinary citizens cannot be accepted. It has been said in the application that such espionage is a violation of the right to privacy, which has been described as a fundamental right in Article 14 of the Constitution.
