Pegasus row: SC to form technical expert panel to probe into snooping allegations

In a major development, the Supreme Court bench led by CJI N V Ramana on Thursday, expressed its inclination to form a technical committee to inquire into the alleged Pegasus snooping. The bench will be able to finalise the members by next week and then pronounce orders. The court is hearing as many as 12 pleas, including the one filed by the Editors Guild of India, seeking an independent probe into the matter.

SC to form expert committee to probe Pegasus

On 13 September the SC bench of CJI NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli reserved interim orders on the issue. While the Centre has refused to file a detailed affidavit on the pleas, stated that it will issue a report to the SC after a committee of experts probe into the allegations. Centre has refuted all allegations of any spying via Israeli spyware Pegasus, but did not hold a debate in the Parliament on the allegations.

The Centre has told SC  it has nothing to hide and that is why it has on its own said it will constitute a panel of domain experts. The Centre added that whether a particular software was used or not is not a matter for public discussion. Report of the committee of domain experts will be made available to SC,  said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to the apex court.

Opposition MPs demand Parliament debate

In August, amid the Monsoon Parliament Session, Opposition MPs lambasted the Centre for not scheduling on a debate on the Pegasus snooping row in either House at a press meeting outside Parliament. Citing national security concerns, MPs like Supriya Sule (NCP), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena), Manoj Jha (RJD) and Rahul Gandhi (Congress) alleged that the government was not ready for debate on the issue, sticking to reading statements.  Parliament was disrupted multiple times over the Opposition's demand for a debate on the issue, leading to the suspension of 6 MPs.

A report by sixteen media houses claimed that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using Israeli surveillance technology firm Pegasus - which only has 36 vetted governments as its clients. As per a 'leaked' database, numbers of those allegedly spied upon include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving cabinet ministers, current and former heads, and officials of security organizations and businessmen. The target also includes the eight activists currently accused of the Bhima Koregaon case. The report claimed that the leaked numbers mainly belong to ten countries - India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.