New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 29) remarked that there was nothing wrong to have Pegasus spyware and using it against terrorists but individual apprehension must be addressed and private civil individual who has right to privacy will be protected under the Constitution.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a batch of pleas alleging use of Pegasus spyware by the Centre to snoop on judges, activists, journalists and others.
To have spyware is not wrong, against whom you are using is the question: Apex Court
“What is wrong if the country is using the spyware against the terrorists? To have spyware is not wrong, against whom you are using is the question. We can’t compromise with the security of nation. Private civil individual who has right to privacy will be protected under the Constitution,” the bench remarked.
Technical committee report cannot be made public for discussion on streets: Apex Court
The bench also said that the report of the technical committee on the alleged misuse of the spyware cannot be made public for discussion on the streets but individual apprehension must be addressed.
Any report which touches security and sovereignty of country will not be touched: Apex Court
“Any report which touches the security and sovereignty of the country will not be touched. But individuals who want to know whether they are included, that can be informed. Yes, individual apprehension must be addressed but it cannot be made a document for discussion on the streets,” the bench said and added that it will examine the extent to which the report of the technical committee could be shared in public.
The top court would further hear the matter on July 30.
Apex court earlier ordered a probe
The apex court earlier ordered a probe into the allegations of unauthorised use of Pegasus malware and constituted a committee headed by former top court judge Justice RV Raveendran. The committee found that Pegasus was not used in the 29 cell phones examined by it but some malware but not Pegasus was found in five cell phones. It also said that the Government of India didn’t cooperate with its probe.
The petitions were filed in the top court following a series of reports by an international media consortium alleging the Pegasus spyware may have been used to infect the cell phones of several persons, including judges, activists, journalists and others.
