A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking a court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the reports of alleged snooping by government agencies using Israeli spyware Pegasus over journalists, activists, politicians and others.
The plea further sought to declare buying of Pegasus software for snooping illegal and unconstitutional. The petition, field by Advocate M.L. Sharma, said: “The Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern and a serious attack upon Indian democracy, judiciary and country security. The widespread and unaccountable use of surveillance is morally disfiguring. Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted. It is about having a space of one’s own where our thoughts and being are not the instrument of someone else’s purposes.”
“Pegasus is a chilling software. It is not just eavesdropping on conversations; it can be used to access the entire digital imprint of your life. It renders helpless not just the owner of the phone hacked, but everyone who is in contact with them,” it added.
The petitioner further stated that using of Pegasus software for snooping of Opposition leaders, political persons, judges of the judiciary and even any individual is a serious offence.