Supreme Court agrees to hear Pegasus: Hearing next week on the application for SIT investigation, petitioners said – Government should tell the reality of espionage

The petitioners say that the Pegasus case should be headed by a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court. (file photo)

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the application for an independent investigation into the Pegasus espionage case. The court has said that it will be heard next week. Senior journalists N Ram and Shashi Kumar have filed a petition in this matter.

Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, while mentioning the petition in the bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, said that the matter should be heard soon, as this dispute is quite spread. Sibal said that monitoring the citizens, opposition leaders and journalists of the country is a violation of their freedom. This issue is discussed all over the world including India.

Tell the government – did you use Pegasus?
The petitioners have appealed that the Pegasus case be investigated by a SIT constituted under the chairmanship of a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court. The Center should be asked to state whether the government or any of its agencies has directly or indirectly used Pegasus spyware for spying? Was Pegasus Spyware Licensed?

The petitioners have also said that spying with military grade spyware is a violation of the right to privacy. Hacking the phones of journalists, doctors, lawyers, activists, ministers and leaders of opposition parties is a compromise on the right to freedom of speech. It has been claimed in the application that many publications of the world have disclosed that more than 142 Indians were on the target of Pegasus.

The third application in the Supreme Court in the Pegasus case
This is the third application filed in the Supreme Court regarding the Pegasus espionage controversy. Earlier, lawyer ML Sharma and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas have also filed the petition. Both had appealed to the SIT to get the investigation done under the supervision of the court.