A cellphone number used by retired Supreme Court judge Arun Mishra was in the list of potential Pegasus targets, a news report said on Wednesday, a day before the top court was to hear petitions for a probe into the alleged use of the Israeli spyware on Indians.
According to The Wire, an independent non-profit media organization, a Rajasthan mobile number previously registered in the name of justice Mishra was added to the Pegasus database in 2019.
The number was registered in the name of the retired judge from 18 September 2010 to 19 September 2018, the report said, citing people in state-owned telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, or BSNL.
Mishra, who is now the chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), was made a Supreme Court judge in 2014. He demitted office in September 2020 and was appointed as the NHRC chairperson in June.
The Wire added that the mobile numbers of Supreme Court registry officials N.K. Gandhi and T.I. Rajput, both now retired, also featured on the list of potential targets.
The numbers of three lawyers, Alijo Joseph, Vjiay Aggarwal and M. Thangathurai, are also reported to be on the list. While Joseph is the lawyer for AgustaWestland case accused Christian Michels, Aggarwal has been representing Punjab National Bank scam accused Nirav Modi. Thangathurai has been associated with and working in former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi’s office for several years.
On Thursday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana will consider nine petitions seeking a court-monitored independent investigation into the alleged snooping and identification of the entities responsible for this.
Those who filed the petitions include lawyers, journalists and activists.
An international media consortium has reported that more than 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware. The Editors Guild of India, in its plea, has said that a special investigation team (SIT) should be set up to probe the reported surveillance of journalists and others.
The guild’s petition, in which veteran journalist Mrinal Pande is a petitioner, said its members and all journalists have the duty of holding all branches of the government accountable by seeking information, explanations and constitutionally valid justifications for state action and inaction.
The apex court will also hear a separate plea filed by senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, whose name is featured in the reported list of targets.
He is seeking directions to the Centre to disclose materials with respect to investigation and authorization pertaining to the purported use of the Israeli spyware on his mobile phone.
Guha Thakurta, who has said that the existence of Pegasus will have a “tremendous chilling effect" on the right to free speech in India, has urged the top court to declare the use of malware or spyware as illegal and unconstitutional.
According to yet another plea filed by journalists N. Ram and Shashi Kumar, the alleged snooping represented an attempt by agencies and organizations to muzzle the exercise of free speech and expression of dissent in India.
Their petition also seeks a direction to the Centre to disclose if the government or any of its agencies obtained licence for Pegasus spyware and used it, either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance in any manner.
According to the petition, hacking of phones using the Pegasus spyware constituted a criminal offence punishable under Sections 66 (computer related offences), 66B (punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device), 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) and 66F (punishment for cyber terrorism) of the IT Act, punishable with imprisonment and/or fine. The court will also hear a petition filed by advocate M.L. Sharma who has sought a court-monitored probe by a SIT into the reports of alleged snooping.
PTI contributed to the story.
