New Delhi: The Supreme Court will on Wednesday pronounce verdict on petitions seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into allegations of snooping on journalists, activists, politicians etc, using the Israeli Pegasus spyware.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana – which had on September 23 said it was contemplating setting up an expert panel to look into the allegations of snooping – is scheduled to pronounce it on Wednesday morning.
The CJI had said the order was getting delayed as several experts expressed unwillingness to be part of the technical committee.
An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware. It was also reported that phones of a former judge of the Supreme Court and its registrars were allegedly intercepted using the spyware.
Around 10 petitioners, including the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and others, have sought an independent probe into the alleged snooping.
Earlier, the Bench – which also included Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli – had on September 13 said it would pass an interim order in the matter after the Centre showed reluctance in filing an affidavit clarifying if Pegasus spyware was used by government agencies.
Citing national security, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said the government didn’t want to file any additional affidavit to publicly clarify if Pegasus spyware was used for snooping or not even if he maintained that the Centre had nothing to hide.
“You have repeatedly been saying that the government doesn’t want to file an affidavit. We also don’t want any security issues to be put before us. You say that a committee will be formed and the report will be submitted…We have to look into the whole issue and pass an interim order,” the Bench had said, adding the government was beating around the bush.
Earlier, the Centre had filed a short affidavit saying that the pleas seeking an independent probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations are based on “conjectures and surmises or on other unsubstantiated media reports or incomplete or uncorroborated material”.
The Centre had said it was ready to set up an expert panel to dispel any wrong narrative spread by certain vested interests. It had also said its position had already been clarified in Parliament by Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.