New Delhi: A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus, seeking that the court take cognisance of a New York Times report on it and order a probe into the 2017 defence deal with Israel. The petition was filed by lawyer ML Sharma, seeking direction to register FIR and investigate the matter.
The media report claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a $2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 has triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to ‘treason’. Sharma, the lead petitioner in the original case, filed an application has also sought recovery of money paid for the deal. The petition said the alleged India-Israel deal was not approved by Parliament and, therefore, needs to be cancelled and money should be recovered. The petitioner urged the apex court to also issue directions to investigate alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of justice and prosecution of concerned persons.
Last year on October 27, the top court had constituted an independent committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran to probe into the Pegasus allegations. The pleas were filed last year sought inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate the alleged snooping. The pleas had said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case.
Also read: Congress quotes NYT report; accuses Centre of purchasing Pegasus spyware from Israel in 2017
In July 2021, names of several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire. However, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said there is ‘no substance’ in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions. Later, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh, and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the Supreme Court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.
Post Your Comments