The Supreme Court on Tuesday said there was nothing wrong for the country to use Pegasus spyware for security reasons. The court, however, remarked that use of the right of privacy of “private individuals” will be protected under the Constitution, reported Bar and Bench.
The apex court was hearing a petition filed by journalists N Ram, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and others against the alleged use of the military-grade spyware by the Indian government to snoop on journalists, judges, activists and others.
Addressing the petitioners, Justice Surya Kant, who is heading a bench with Justice N Kotiswar Singh reportedly said: “What is wrong if the country is using that spyware against the adverse elements? To have a spyware, nothing wrong.” According to Bar and Bench, Justice Kant further said, “We cannot compromise and sacrifice the security of the nation.”
The Supreme Court’s remarks on using spyware for security reasons comes just days after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
Emphasising on the rights of “private civil individuals,” the court said, their “right to privacy, will be protected under the Constitution... their complaint with regard to that [can always be looked at].”
The court's remarks came in response to lawyer Dinesh Dwivedi who said the plea’s "basic question” was whether or not the Indian government possessed Pegasus, and if it was used to conduct “illegal surveillance” on private citizens, The Hindu reported.
In 2021, an international consortium of media organisations had reported on how the Pegasus spyware had been used to potentially target journalists, activists and politicians in India. However, in August 2021, following widespread outrage, in response to questions raised in the Rajya Sabha, the government had said that the “ministry of defence has not had any transaction" with the Israel-based NSO Group, the developer of the spyware.
Following the report, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas, director of Hindu Group of publications N Ram, Editors Guild of India, journalists Rupesh Kumar Singh, Ipsa Shatakshi, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abidi and others approached the Supreme Court. Many of their names had been mentioned in the media reports as potential targets of the spyware.
The court has listed the matter for July 30 for further hearing.
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