Top court to hear Pegasus snooping case on April 22

NEW DELHI The Supreme Court on Friday scheduled April 22 as the date to hear a bunch of petitions related to the Pegasus snooping case that revolves around allegations that the spyware was used to target politicians, activists, journalists and businesspersons in India. The case was effectively heard last by the top court in August 2022.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh deferred the hearing of the matter after it took up a petition filed by journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, but noted that several other petitions pertaining to the same matter were not listed with Thakurta’s plea.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, and senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for Thakurta, agreed to fix the matter on another day when all related petitions could be listed together.

A Supreme Court-appointed panel of experts submitted its findings in August 2022 after conducting a forensic analysis of 29 mobile devices voluntarily submitted for examination. The committee, however, was unable to conclusively determine whether Pegasus spyware was present on these devices. The panel found traces of malware in five phones, but there was no definitive proof that it was Pegasus.

A key aspect of the committee’s report was its assertion that the Union government did not cooperate with the probe. The report recommended new laws and safeguards to protect citizens from unlawful surveillance and cyber intrusions.

The panel’s findings were divided into three parts: two technical reports and a separate analysis by former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran. While certain sections of the report remained confidential due to the presence of private information, justice Raveendran’s report was made publicly available.

In July 2021, a consortium of media organisations and investigative journalists reported that the spyware had been used to target 50,000 phone numbers worldwide, including those of Indian politicians, activists, journalists, and businessmen. The list included prominent names such as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor, former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa, and Union ministers Prahlad Patel and Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Pegasus, developed by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group, is a military-grade spyware capable of remotely infiltrating mobile devices, enabling surveillance of calls, messages, photos, and even activating the phone microphone or camera. The NSO Group has repeatedly maintained that Pegasus is only sold to government agencies for counterterrorism and law enforcement purposes.

The Supreme Court intervened in October 2021 on a public interest litigation filed by advocate ML Sharma, as it rejected the government’s argument that national security concerns precluded an independent investigation. The court emphasised that invoking national security could not provide a “free pass” against allegations of privacy violations. Subsequently, journalist and author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta also moved court.

A committee headed by justice Raveendran was formed to probe the matter, assisted by cybersecurity experts and forensic analysts. The panel included experts from institutions such as the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Kerala, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The committee faced multiple deadline extensions before submitting its final report in August 2022.

The committee was mandated to determine whether the Pegasus spyware was used on phones or other devices to access stored data, eavesdrop on conversations, intercept information, etc. The mandate also included determining details of those targeted with the spyware, the actions taken following the alleged illegal infiltration, whether the government acquired Pegasus to spy on Indian citizens, and if it did, under what rule or guideline.