Supreme Court orders independent inquiry into Pegasus espionage controversy

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Wednesday on various petitions seeking an independent inquiry into the Pegasus espionage controversy. Chief Justice N V Ramna and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said in a reserved order on September 3 that they only wanted to know whether the Center had used the spyware to illegally spy on citizens. The apex court had orally observed that it would set up a technical expert committee and order an independent inquiry into the alleged surveillance of some prominent Indians by Pegasus.

It is important to keep in mind that the Supreme Court has set up a committee to oversee the formation of an expert panel to look into this whole matter.

The apex court said it would make an announcement in the next few days and told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared from the Center, that the government would also show it if the government reconsiders filing a thorough affidavit.

The bench said it wanted to know whether the Center had refused to file an in-depth affidavit citing national security reasons, even though the Pegasus was used to monitor individuals even if it had been used legally.

The Supreme Court said it was not interested in knowing the details of national security, given the concerns raised by journalists and others about privacy in the Pegasus espionage controversy. The Center said it did not want to file an affidavit before any particular software was used, the law officer argued, adding that using any type of software for espionage would harm the country and would also alert terrorist groups. "We understand you," the court said. But we just want to make sure that it is used by the government for legally prescribed matters.

The law officer said the government has nothing to hide. That is why the Center itself has said that it will form a committee to investigate the allegation and submit its report to the court.