Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Apr 29: The Supreme Court today indicated its reluctance to make public the complete report of the court-appointed panel that investigated the Pegasus snooping allegations.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N.K. Singh stated that while details impacting national security and sovereignty would remain confidential, the portion of the report pertaining to individual petitioners could be disclosed.
The bench clarified, “Any report which touches upon the security and sovereignty of the country will not be disclosed. But individuals who want to know whether they are included can be informed."
During the hearing, the Justice Kant-led Bench made an observation that there was “nothing wrong” with a country utilizing spyware for its legitimate security purposes.
“What is wrong if the country is using spyware? Against whom it is used, it is the question. We cannot compromise and sacrifice the security of the nation. Private civil individuals, who have the right to privacy, will be obviously protected under the Constitution,” the apex court remarked.
The court decided to postpone the hearing until July 30, following a request from the petitioner's counsel for time to present a judgment from a United States (US) court in the case filed by WhatsApp against Pegasus.
Pegasus is a controversial spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group, capable of eavesdropping on mobile phones and extracting their data. It has been alleged that the spyware has been used to target politicians, government officials, human rights activists, dissidents, and journalists globally.
In October 2021, a Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana constituted an expert committee to investigate whether Pegasus spyware was deployed against Indian citizens, including journalists, activists, and politicians, to access their stored data.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central government, had declined to disclose details regarding the use of Pegasus, citing concerns about national security. However, the apex court emphasized that its objective was to uphold the rule of law, steering clear of the "political thicket," and acknowledged that the alleged use of Pegasus on citizens was a matter of "grave concern."
In its report submitted to the Supreme Court in August 2022, the Pegasus panel stated that the conclusive presence of the Israeli spyware was not established in the 29 mobile phones it examined. The panel also noted that the Central government "has not cooperated" with the investigation.
The court-appointed panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran, indicated that while five out of the 29 examined mobile phones showed potential infection with some malware, this did not necessarily confirm the presence of Pegasus spyware. The panel also reported the government's lack of full cooperation during the examination of the phones for malware.
The report comprised three sections: the technical committee's report, digital images of the examined phones, and the report of the overseeing judge, Justice Raveendran.
The then CJI Ramana-led Bench suggested that Justice Raveendran's report might be made public, while the other parts of the report were likely to remain confidential. The report emphasized the need to enhance the country's cybersecurity infrastructure and ensure that while protecting citizens' privacy, unauthorized surveillance is strictly prohibited.
The panel highlighted the existence of certain malwares that could be misused, posing threats to security and infringing upon the privacy of citizens. It recommended the establishment of a mechanism to prevent illegal surveillance and the prosecution of private firms involved in such activities.