The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre and the West Bengal government to respond to a petition challenging the formation of a Commission of Inquiry into illegal hacking, surveillance and monitoring of mobile phones in the wake of the Pegasus snooping controversy.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana posted the case for August 25.
The West Bengal government’s Commission of Inquiry comprises retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and retired Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Jyotirmay Bhattacharya.
The petitioner-lawyer Saurabh Mishra urged the court to stop the commission from proceeding further with its inquiry. He submitted that a public notice was issued by the Commission of Inquiry and proceedings were taking place on a day-to-day basis.
“We will see, wait,” the Bench said and asked him to serve the copy of the petition to the respondents.
The plea has challenged the State government notification which appointed the commission in July. The petition said the commission has no jurisdiction to embark on such an inquiry.
