Journalists N Ram, Sashi Kumar move SC seeking inquiry into Pegasus use

Journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar have moved the Supreme Court seeking an inquiry by a retired or sitting judge of the top court into alleged surveillance through Israeli Pegasus spyware and to ascertain the extent of the alleged surveillance on Indian citizens and entities responsible for it.

In their petition filed through advocate Shadan Farasat, the two said the alleged snooping “prima facie constitutes an act of cyber-terrorism”. It describes Pegasus as an extremely sophisticated military software. “Such mass surveillance using a military-grade spyware abridges several fundamental rights and appears to represent an attempt to infiltrate, attack and destabilize independent institutions that act as critical pillars of our democratic set-up.” The plea added the alleged snooping has several “grave political and security ramifications, especially considering that the devices of government ministers, senior political figures and constitutional functionaries which may contain sensitive information have been targeted.”

The petition called for viewing the snooping allegations with seriousness as it impacts rights to privacy and free speech protected under the Constitution’s Articles 21 and 19(1)(a). It noted the alleged hacking of mobile phones using Pegasus spyware constitutes a punishable offence under the Information Technology Act. The petition alleged the surveillance has been done bypassing the legal regime provided under Section 5(2) of the Telegraph Act, which provides for it on grounds of public emergency or in the interest of public safety.

To be sure, as the methodology of the investigation into the alleged snooping explains, the presence of a number on the database of the alleged targeted numbers does not indicate an individual’s phone was hacked — just that it was of interest. The leaked database was first obtained by France-based non-profit Forbidden Stories, which shared the information with the reporting partners. The devices associated with 67 of the numbers were analysed by Amnesty International and of these, 37 had signs of being hacked by Pegasus. Of the 37, 10 were in India.

The plea of the journalists has sought a response from the Centre whether it or any of its agencies obtained license for Pegasus spyware or have used it to conduct surveillance on Indian citizens. It added it is concerning to note that the government has not categorically ruled out obtaining Pegasus licenses to conduct surveillance, citing Union Ashwani Vaishnav’s statements in this regard.

The petition said prominent journalists, politicians, activists and scientists are among those on the list of potential surveillance by Pegasus. It added despite this no steps have been taken by Centre to ensure a credible and independent investigation.

Advocate ML Sharma and John Brittas, a Rajya Sabha member, have earlier filed two petitions seeking inquiry into the alleged snooping.