Supreme Court Bench to hear Pegasus case on August 25

A Special Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana is scheduled on Thursday to hear the Pegasus snooping case in which a technical panel was formed to inquire into reports that the government used the Israeli military-grade malware to spy on journalists, parliamentarians, prominent citizens and even court staff.

Chief Justice Ramana, flanked by Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, will be hearing the case amid certain media reports that the panel overseen by retired Supreme Court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, has filed its final report.

The Bench last assembled on May 20 to peruse an interim report filed by the committee in which it said that it had developed its own protocol and software to test the devices for malware. The interim report had sought an extension of time till June 20, 2022 to complete the entire exercise and file a comprehensive report before the court.

The enquiry by the committee is two-pronged. One is regarding the technical issues relating to the digital forensic aspects about the reported use of Pegasus malware to target mobile phones of Indian citizens. The second is regarding recommendations about the enhancement of existing laws and procedures related to surveillance and securing rights including privacy, cyber security, etc.

On October 27 last year, the court had constituted the technical committee while observing in its 46-page order that there was a “broad consensus that unauthorised surveillance/accessing of stored data from the phones and other devices of citizens for reasons other than the nation’s security would be illegal, objectionable and a matter of concern”.

The court had, in October, listed several concerns which led it to form the committee and direct an independent enquiry. Several petitions, including one by senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, had sought a fair probe into the snooping allegations.