The Supreme Court extends the deadline for submitting the probe report, and 29 mobile phones are being tested for spyware

*Paromita Das

In the Pegasus spyware case, the Supreme Court granted the technical committee an extension of time to complete its report by June 20 on May 20.

The committee, led by former Supreme Court Justice R.V. Raveendran, informed the court that at least 29 mobile devices containing suspected malware had been received and are being examined.
Some of the petitioners’ statements have been recorded. The committee is also contacting individuals and agencies for feedback, and it expects to receive its report, as well as Justice Raveendran’s recommendations on privacy and cyber security, by the end of May.

A Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana directed the technical committee to submit its findings in the form of a report within four weeks, and urged Justice Raveendran to submit the final report with legal recommendations as soon as possible.
The next hearing has been set for July by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court was looking into allegations that the government was spying on citizens using Pegasus, an Israeli military-grade software.

According to news reports on the controversy, Pegasus was used to target a diverse range of people, including journalists, activists, parliamentarians, government officials, lawyers, and even court staffers.

The court charged the technical committee with “enquiring, investigating, and determining” whether the “Pegasus suite of spyware was used on phones or other devices of Indian citizens to access stored data, eavesdrop on conversations, intercept information, and/or for any other purpose.”
Other questions for the committee included whether Pegasus was used by the Center, the State, or any of their agencies against their own citizens, and, if so, whether it was authorised and under what law or procedure.

The Supreme Court had requested that the committee look into the first public signs of the alleged use of spyware years ago. The court had asked the committee to investigate the government’s actions “after reports were published in 2019 about hacking of WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens using the Pegasus suite of spyware.”
The court also requested that the committee use its expertise to put existing surveillance laws and procedures to the test to determine how much they valued and protected citizens’ privacy.