Series of Events that lead to Constitution of Independent Committee to Probe into alleged Pegasus Snooping
Supreme Court has appointed a committee headed by Justice RV Raveendran (Retired SC Judge), while rejecting the plea of the Union of India to allow them to appoint an Expert Committee for the purposes of investigating the allegations.
We are trying to crack down on the series of events that led to this litigation and Constitution of Independent Committee to Probe into alleged Pegasus Snooping
Citizen's Lab Report
September 2018- Citizens Lab of the University of Toronto, Canada released a report informing about the capabilities of the Pegasus Software released by NSO an Israeli Technology Firm. The report revealed that there are around 45 Countries affected by the use of the software.
WhatsApp's Alarm in 2019
WhatsApp reported that they have identified a vulnerability in its software that enabled Pegasus spyware to infiltrate the devices of WhatsApp’s users. This news was followed by a disclosure that the devices of certain Indians were also affected, which fact was acknowledged by the then Minister of Law and Electronics and Information Technology in a statement made in the Parliament on 20th November 2019.
Unveiling of Spyware Campaign in 2020
Citizen Lab, in collaboration with the international human rights organization, Amnesty International uncovered another spyware campaign that allegedly targeted nine individuals in India, some of whom were already suspected targets in the first spyware attack.
Journalists Investigation Report in 2021
A consortium of nearly 17 journalistic organizations from around the world reported alleged use of the Pegasus software on several private individuals.
The report alleged that phone numbers are under surveillance by clients of the NSO Group while releasing a list of 50,000 leaked numbers. Later it was discovered that 300 out of them belong to Indian Journalists, Doctors, Political Persons, and Court Staff, etc.
TheWire a news agency reported that hacking software is being used on more than 40 Journalists from agencies including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Wire, etc.
The report stated that the Journalists have been targeted during a time frame starting from 2018.
Government's Response
After the publication of the report, the Government of India while denying the allegations said, "India is a robust democracy that is committed to ensuring the right to privacy to all its citizens as a fundamental right.
"There has been no unauthorized interception by government agencies. The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people have no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever," the Government added.
The Minister of Information and Technology also stated that the Amnesty report itself indicated that the mere mention of a particular number in the list did not confirm whether the same was infected by Pegasus or not. Further, the Minister stated that NSO had itself factually contradicted many of the claims made in the Amnesty report.
"the Indian statutory and legal regime relating to surveillance and interception of communication is extremely rigorous, and no illegal surveillance could take place," the Government added.
Petition Before Supreme Court 2021
The above-mentioned series of events led to the petitions filed before the Supreme Court seeking court-monitored probe by Special Investigation Team into the reports of alleged snooping using Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Advocate Sharma mentioned in his plea stated that, “the Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern and a serious attack upon Indian democracy, judiciary and country security. The widespread and unaccountable use of surveillance is morally disfiguring.”
He further added, “Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted. It is about having a space of one’s own where our thoughts and being are not the instrument of someone else’s purposes.”
“Pegasus is not just a surveillance tool. It is a cyber-weapon being unleashed on the Indian polity. Even if authorised (which is doubtful), the use of Pegasus poses a national security risk.” – stated plea
Read Full Judgement: Click Here
Case Title: ML Sharma v. PM | N. Ram v. UOI | Editors Guild of India v. UOI