The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard nine applications related to the Pegasus espionage case. During this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought more time to file the reply of the government. After this, the court adjourned the hearing till August 16. At the same time, Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, objecting to the ongoing debate on social media and websites regarding this matter, has instructed the petitioners to be disciplined.
The CJI told the petitioners, No one should cross the limit. Everyone will be heard. We are not against debate, but if the matter is in court, then it should be talked here only.
In the Pegasus case, applications have been filed by journalists, lawyers, social activists, and the Editors Guild of India, demanding an SIT probe. In the hearing held on August 5, the CJI had said that if the reports related to espionage are true, then these are serious allegations. Along with this, all the petitioners were asked to provide copies of their applications to the Central Government, so that someone is present to take notice.
The court had also raised questions on the filing of petitions without the framework. It also refused to issue notice to the Center immediately. At the beginning of the last hearing, the CJI had said, "The spy report came out in 2019. I do not know what efforts were made to gather more information. Why is the matter raised now? The petitioners are law-abiding people but have not worked hard enough to gather relevant material in their favor to enable us to order an inquiry. Those who are claiming themselves to be affected did not even get the FIR lodged.
The petitioners have appealed that the Pegasus case is investigated by an SIT constituted. SIT is under the chairmanship of a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court. The Center should be asked to state whether the government or any of its agencies has directly or indirectly used Pegasus spyware for spying? Was Pegasus Spyware Licensed?
The petitioners have also said that spying with military-grade spyware is a violation of the right to privacy. Hacking the phones of journalists, doctors, lawyers, activists, ministers, and leaders of opposition parties is a compromise on the right to freedom of speech.
An international group of investigative journalists claims that Pegasus, the spy software of the Israeli company NSO, spied 50,000 people in 10 countries. So far 300 names have come up in India too, whose phones were monitored. These include ministers in the government, leaders of the opposition, journalists, lawyers, judges, businessmen, officers, scientists, and activists.
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