Pegasus row: SC refuses to stay West Bengal govt's judicial inquiry, issues notice

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the West Bengal government's notification forming a judicial commission to inquire into the Pegasus row. On July 26, the Mamata Banerjee-led government appointed a Commission of Inquiry comprising ex-SC judge Madan Lokur and former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya under the Commission of Inquiry Act. It was tasked to investigate the facts and circumstances related to the purported illegal hacking of phones of various police officials, politicians, MLAs, journalists, activists and other judges. 

This came in the wake of reports suggesting that the CM's nephew Abhishek Banerjee and TMC poll strategist Prashant Kishor were potential targets of snooping. A bench of Justices BR Gavai, Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose was hearing a plea filed by NGO Global Village Foundation seeking to quash the probe. While highlighting that a pan-India investigation is necessary, it argued against the WB government carrying out the probe in a "truncated and unconstitutional" manner. Moreover, it claimed that the terms of reference of this Commission encroached upon the subjects lying in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Centre.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the SC that this notification is "unconstitutional" and said that he would be assisting the court on the constitutional aspects. On the other hand, the petitioner's lawyer Saurabh Mishra sought interim relief from the top court. Issuing notice, the apex court sought the response of the Union of India, the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, the Electronics and Information Technology Ministry and the West Bengal government. The matter will come up for hearing on August 25 along with the pleas seeking a probe into the snooping controversy. 

The Pegasus row

The controversy came to the fore when French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International accessed a leaked database of 50,000 phone numbers that were allegedly targeted by Pegasus. As per media reports, the Pegasus spyware targeted over 300 Indian mobile numbers including that of 40 journalists, businesspersons, one constitutional authority, three opposition leaders and two sitting Ministers in the Union government. The database also allegedly contained the numbers of activists who are accused and incarcerated in the Bhima Koregaon case.

Notably, Pegasus maker NSO Group categorically rubbished these allegations and cast doubts on the reliability of the sources. Making a statement on this issue in Rajya Sabha on July 22, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw slammed the over-the-top allegations. Casting aspersions on the timing of the leak, he asserted that similar claims made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp had no factual basis. On August 9, the Ministry of Defence clarified that it has done any transaction with the NSO Group.