Supreme Court to hear Pegasus petitions next week

The Supreme Court has indicated that it would be dealing with multiple petitions seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping charges next week. Petitions have been filed by veteran journalists N Ram and Shashi Kumar, advocate Manoharlal Sharma and CPM leader John Brittas.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal cited the ramifications of the alleged snooping on national security and urged the bench led by CJI NV Ramana to hold an immediate hearing on the petitions.

“This is an urgent matter. It is making waves at home and internationally,” Sibal argued. “It has huge ramifications…(on) civil liberties. Opposition leaders, journalists and members of the judiciary were being snooped upon,” he said.


Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi complained to the court that urgent matters such as the Pegasus snooping allegations ought to be listed for mentioning but were not being done. The bench then indicated that it would hear the issue next week.

The opposition parties, including the Congress, have been attacking the government both inside Parliament and elsewhere on the issue.

The government has so far only said that no interception was done in an unauthorised manner, implying that due process was followed in sanctioning any tapping. It has, however, denied any Pegasus links.

The Pegasus software is sold only to sovereign governments and has raised suspicions of similar spying at home. The software can not only be used to snoop on political dissidents but also hack into their systems to plant evidence, activists have claimed.

This represented a major intrusion into citizens’ valued right to privacy, a fundamental right, and was a threat to the very existence of democracy, they said.