Even as the Centre refused to file an affidavit on whether Pegasus software was used or not, the Supreme Court has reserved its order on a batch of petitions seeking a probe into news reports of snooping. Asking the Centre to not beat around the bush and inform the court if it changes its mind, the top court indicated that it will pass an interim order in the next few days.


The CJI-led bench observed that it had already given ample time to the Centre to file a reply, and made it clear that it wasn't interested in knowing the government's action to protect national security and law and order but only wanted to ensure that the privacy and other rights of the petitioners weren't violated. While the Centre reiterated that it was ready to form an expert committee with court-appointed members, the top court observed that even if the committee is formed, its report may have to come out in the public domain unlike what the Centre is demanding.


Centre has maintained that all its actions have been taken as per as per the statutory regime in India, claiming no violation of the Telegraph Act or the Information Technology Act. It argued that it can't divulge any data on the softwares being used in view of larger national interest and security.


Petitioners had claimed that the Pegasus software not just spies, but also implants false information in electronic systems in violation of Indian law. Arguing that the government can't behave like an adversary by targeting citizens by using a software illegally, the petitioners questioned why the Indian government was reluctant to disclose its use when the German government and many other governments had already admitted its use.


"Unequivocally" denying all allegations raised by a batch of petitions seeking probe into news reports of Pegasus snooping, Centre has claimed that the allegations are based on conjectures, media reports and uncorroborated or incomplete material. In an affidavit filed by the Union Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology (IT), Centre has claimed that the questions raised by the petitioners have already been answered by the minister in Parliament, stating that it wants to "dispel any wrong narrative spread by certain vested interests".


Calling Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group's Pegasus an assault on privacy and dignity of a democratic republic, petitioners before the Supreme Court have sought a probe into what they termed as an "illegal penetration into the national digital backbone."


Referring to a petition filed by WhatsApp against NSO Group in a Californian court in 2019, petitioners have submitted that the messenger service had alleged that NSO had planted spyware in the devices of over 1,400 WhatsApp users across the world. Claiming that Centre had admitted in Parliament that the rogue spyware was infiltrating Indian phones, petitioners have sought a reply from the Centre on whether the software was bought and used by the government. Petitioners contended that the United States and France had already initiated action based on credible media reports of spying via Pegasus software, which has led to complaints and action by the Israeli government against the NSO group.


However, in the Parliament, the Indian minister had also quoted the NSO group, which said that "the list of countries shown using Pegasus is incorrect and many countries mentioned are not even our clients." Claiming that even NSO had rubbished the claims made in the report, he added that "any form of illegal surveillance is not possible with the checks and balances" in Indian laws and its robust institutions.
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