'Pegasus Project': SC Terms Allegations As 'Serious If Reports Are Correct', Says Can't Proceed Without Centre

During the Supreme Court hearing, Senior advocate CU Singh contended that petitions have been filed only now because the names of persons targeted were not known in 2019.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday observed that the accusations levelled against the Union government over alleged spying using Israeli software Pegasus "are serious if news reports are correct".

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant also asked petitioners why any criminal complaint was not registered by persons reportedly affected by the snooping.

"We want to ask some questions. No doubt the allegations are serious if reports in newspapers are correct. The majority of petitions rely on foreign newspapers, but is there any verifiable material for us to order an inquiry?" asked the Bench during the hearing as quoted by news agency ANI.

The Supreme court on Thursday heard a batch of petitions that seek court-monitored investigation into the claims of 'Pegasus Project'.

Arguments

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for veteran journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, was questioned as to why petitions have been filed after two years when reports regarding the use of Pegasus to infiltrate WhatsApp had surfaced back in 2019.

"We are not saying petitions are based on hearsay and we cannot say there is no material, but with your access to international material, resources, they (petitioners) should have made more efforts," Chief Justice told Sibal.

Senior advocate CU Singh contended that petitions have been filed only now because the names of persons targeted were not known in 2019. The names were known after a forensic analysis was done by an international agency, he added. 

The issue of surveillance was raised in Parliament in November 2019 and the then minister of IT Ravi Shankar Prasad had said there was no unauthorised interception, Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora who was appearing for MP John Brittas stated.

Calling Pegasus a "rogue technology", Kapil Sibal said that "it penetrates into our national internet backbone. It is an assault on privacy, dignity and values of our republic", adding that this spyware is only sold to government agencies and is not sold to private entities.

Arguing that journalists, public figures, constitutional authorities, court officers, academics all are targeted by spyware, he contended that "the government has to answer who purchased it? How much was spent? Where was the hardware placed? Why did the government not register the FIR, it's a matter of our privacy. Only the government will be able to tell us facts". 

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for journalist SNM Abdi argued that the case "is a larger issue involving constitutionality and not just criminality. Ordinary individuals who are writing on issues that concern the government cannot be subjected to surveillance." 

"Today 300 people have come to light. God knows who many others are there - 300 or 3000. Who else will take cognizance of this apart from the judiciary? The Judiciary needs to take this as a class action kind of proceeding," Senior advocate Arvind Datar contended. 

Supreme Court's Response

The Supreme Court bench asked the petitioners to present a copy of their petitions to the Central government's law officers. Without the Union government present in the hearing, the bench cannot proceed as of now, the top court stated. 

The matter will be taken up on Tuesday. 

The nine pleas before the top court have been filed by senior journalists N Ram, and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma. 

Besides this, Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be potential Pegasus targets, had also approached the Supreme court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.

(With Agency Inputs)