New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved an interim order in the Pegasus Snoopgate row after the Center refused to file a detailed affidavit on the issue, reports LiveLaw.
As reported by Live Law, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said that it may take 2-3 days to pass the order.
The government clarified that it will not file a detailed affidavit in response to several petitions seeking an independent probe into the Pegasus spyware scam, news agency PTI reported.
Stating that there was nothing to hide, the Center said that this is the reason why it would constitute a panel of domain experts.
Why did the government refuse to file the affidavit?
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hema Kohli, that whether or not the particular software is used by the government is not a matter of public discussion and making this information a part of the affidavit is not in the national Will happen. Interest.
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Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the top court, “The report of the domain experts’ committee will be made available to the SC.” He said whether the Center was using Pegasus or not, such issues can be debated in the affidavit and can be seen by the domain. Mehta said, “Section 69 provides for the interception by which terror funding and terror link etc. has been found.”
Mehta said the position on the issue has already been clarified in Parliament by Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, as reported by PTI.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday reserved its interim order on the petitions. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, as per the LIVA law, “We are reserving and will pass an interim order. It may take two to three days to pass the order. “
The government was directed to file an affidavit by the Supreme Court and took twice as long to submit its response. Tushar Mehta said that due to some difficulties he could not meet the officials concerned to take a decision on filing the second affidavit.
On August 17, a Supreme Court bench issued notice to the Center relating to a batch of petitions seeking a probe into the Pegasus snooping controversy.
On September 7, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana had given the Center more time to decide on filing further response to the petitions. The top court made it clear that it does not want the government to disclose anything that could compromise national security.
After the petitioners highlighted that the “limited affidavit” filed by the Center has deferred the question of whether the government or its agencies have ever used Pegasus, the hearing on September 7 has been posted till September 13. was postponed.
An international media association has reported that there were more than 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
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