The Supreme Court on Friday posted for April 22, 2025 the hearing on a batch of petitions seeking inquiry into the allegations that the government is using Israeli software Pegasus for snooping.
A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh took the decision after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Central government urged the bench to hear the matter in April as it came after a long time.
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The top court had, on October 27, 2021, set up an expert committee under the supervision of its former judge, Justice R V Raveendran to probe into the alleged snooping of the mobile phones of political leaders, top court judges, media-persons and eminent people using Pegasus spyware, while not accepting the Centre flagging national security and fight against terrorism to stonewall any public disclosure of information.
The expert panel that probed the allegation of snooping had on August 26, 2022, told the Supreme Court that the government did not cooperate in the task assigned to them. The report by the technical expert panel had told the top court that only five out of 29 mobiles that were examined by it were found to be infected with malware but there was no conclusive proof of use of the controversial Israeli company’s spyware that had created a huge hue and cry in the country.
The court was given three reports including one by Justice Raveendran who has recommended updating of the laws regulating surveillance regime to prevent any intrusion of personal devices and protect the privacy of the citizens.
The three reports that were submitted to the top court in a sealed cover included digital images of phones examined for spyware infection, a report of the Technical committee and that of Justice Raveendran – who was overseeing the probe.
The reports were submitted in July 2022.
Besides recommending the strengthening of the legal regime regulating surveillance to protect the citizens from intrusion of their privacy, Justice Raveendran in his report had recommended that private entities indulging in illegal snooping should be prosecuted.
Recommending the strengthening of cyber security laws and the cyber security network of the country, Justice Raveendran has favoured setting up of a specialised agency to investigate cybercrimes.
Justice Raveendran had said that the government should create a mechanism for the citizens to air their grievances for alleged surveillance and infection of their electronic devices with spyware or malware.
