In an apparent setback for the Centre, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused the Government’s plea to allow it to appoint an expert committee to probe the allegations of use of spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India.

The top court instead appointed a three-member expert panel to investigate the matter.

In a 46-page order, a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said its decision was due to several compelling circumstances “One of these was that right to privacy and freedom of speech of the citizens are alleged to be impacted, which needs to be examined,” the bench said.

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“It is for reason (vi) above that we decline the Respondent-Union of India’s plea to allow them to appoint an expert committee for the purposes of investigating the allegations, as such a course of action would violate the settled judicial principle against bias, i.e., that ‘justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done”,” said the bench, which also comprised Justices, Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.

The directions came on a batch of pleas seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.

The independent expert technical committee under the supervision of a retired top court judge, Justice R V Raveendran, will probe the Pegasus snooping allegations.

The court’s effort is to uphold the rule of law, without entering the “political thicket”, the top court said.

“Privacy is not the singular concern of journalists or social activists. Every citizen of India ought to be protected against violations of privacy”, emphasized the bench, adding this right is directly infringed when there is surveillance on an individual, either by state or any external agency.

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.

The bench said it is a settled position of law that in matters pertaining to national security, the scope of judicial review is limited. “However, this does not mean that the State gets a free pass every time the spectre of “national security” is raised.

“Certain grave allegations of infringement of the rights of the citizens of the country have been raised, assuming great significance. In this light, this court is compelled to take up the cause to determine the truth and get to the bottom of the allegations made herein”, said the bench.

It dismissed Centre’s apprehension that any disclosure on the Pegasus issue would affect national security.

“There has only been an omnibus and vague denial in the two-page “limited affidavit” filed by the Respondent Union of India, which cannot be sufficient,” said the top court.

Voicing concern about the protection of journalistic freedom, the bench said the state should not create an atmosphere that has a “chilling effect” on the freedom of the press, which is an assault on the vital public watchdog role of the press.

The three members of the technical committee are — Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; Dr Prabaharan P., Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kerala; and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra.

The bench directed the committee to submit its report expeditiously and scheduled the matter for further hearing after eight weeks.