New Delhi, April 29 The Supreme Court on Tuesday disfavoured public release of the report of the court-appointed panel, which was formed to look into the Pegasus snooping allegations.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N.K. Singh said the top court will not allow the disclosure of the details touching security and sovereignty of the country, but the part of the report relating to individuals can be disclosed.
It said, “Any report which touches upon the security and sovereignty of the country will not be disclosed. But individuals who want to know whether they are included can be informed."
During the course of the hearing, the Justice Kant-led Bench remarked that there was “nothing wrong” with a country using spyware for its security purposes.
“What is wrong if the country is using spyware? Against whom it is used, it is the question. We cannot compromise and sacrifice the security of the nation. Private civil individuals, who have the right to privacy, will be obviously protected under the Constitution,” remarked the apex court.
It decided to defer hearing till July 30 after the petitioner's side sought time to bring on record a judgment of a court in the United States (US) in a case filed by WhatsApp against Pegasus.
Pegasus spyware was developed by Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group for eavesdropping on mobile phones and harvesting their data. The spyware has been highly controversial, used to track politicians, government leaders, human rights activists, dissidents, and journalists.
In October 2021, a bench headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana appointed an expert committee to inquire, investigate, and determine whether the Pegasus spyware was used on Indian citizens, including journalists, activists and politicians, to access stored data.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, had refused to divulge details whether Pegasus was used or not, stating the information may affect the national security concerns of the country. However, the apex court said that its effort was to uphold the rule of law, without entering the "political thicket", and added the alleged use of Pegasus on the citizens of the country was of "grave concern".
In August 2022, the Pegasus panel, in its report submitted to the Supreme Court, said the presence of controversial Israeli spyware Pegasus was not conclusively established in 29 mobile phones examined, and also the Central government "has not cooperated" in the probe.
The top court-appointed panel said five out of 29 mobile phones were possibly infected with some malware, but that does not mean it was Pegasus spyware.
The panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge R.V. Raveendran, had said the government has not fully cooperated while examining the phone for the malware.
The report consisted of three parts: report of the technical committee, digital images of phones examined for infection due to spyware, and the report of the overseeing judge, Justice Raveendran.
The then CJI Ramana-led Bench indicated that it may upload the report of Justice Raveendran, but the other parts of the report may not be made public. The report suggested that a country's cybersecurity needs to be enhanced, and while protecting the privacy of the citizens, it is necessary to ensure that no unauthorised surveillance is allowed.
It pointed out that there are certain malwares which could be misused, they cause concerns to the security, and also violate the privacy of citizens.
The panel suggested that some mechanism should be put in place to check illegal surveillance, and the private firms involved in surveillance should be prosecuted.
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