*Paromita Das
The Supreme Court received a report from a three-person panel that was tasked with examining whether the Israeli spyware Pegasus was allegedly used to hack into the phones of several Indian politicians, journalists, and activists.
The report’s contents will not be disclosed. A new hearing date for the case in which the panel was created under the direction of retired Supreme Court justice RV Raveendran, has not yet been set by the Supreme Court. NV Ramana, the chief justice of India, and the justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli may hear the case on August 12.
Dr. Prabaharan P, professor at the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Kerala; Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, dean of the National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar, and Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste, an institute chair and associate professor at IIT Bombay, make up the panel. 29 devices were examined by the panel for forensic analysis by May. A panel member at the time stated, “The matter is confidential and cannot be discussed as a specific procedure must be followed.”
The Supreme Court had previously asked the panel to complete its investigation into the Pegasus row as quickly as possible, with the initial deadline set for May 20 and the final report submission deadline extended to June 20. After numerous delays, the report was finally submitted about a week ago.
The Pegasus controversy began on July 18, 2021, after a global group of media outlets and investigative journalists revealed that 50,000 phones, including those of Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businesspeople, and journalists, may have been subject to Pegasus, the phone-hacking programme developed by the Israeli company NSO Group.
The consortium claims that Pegasus has the ability to activate a target’s phone’s camera and microphone as well as access the device’s data.
On July 19, 2021, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw addressed Parliament in response to claims that Pegasus was used by the Indian government to hack into the phones of journalists, activists, Opposition leaders, and ministers. He claimed that the reports were simply an “attempt to defame Indian democracy and its well-established institutions.”
While senior counsel Kapil Sibal, Shyam Divan, CU Singh, and Rakesh Dwivedi, among others, were appearing for the collection of petitions filed by lawyers, politicians, journalists, and civil rights activists; Solicitor General Tushar Mehta represented the Union government. The allegations were refuted by the government.
The top court established the inquiry panel in October 2021 while hearing the Pegasus case and held that the Union government cannot receive “a free pass every time” by invoking “national security” when the matter involves the “potential chilling effect” on the right to privacy and freedom of speech. It chose the three members of the panel, who were overseen by Justice R V Raveendran. The committee and a technical subcommittee are investigating suspected military-grade spyware targeting devices using digital forensics.
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