Serious espionage allegations, if correct: SC on the Pegasus case

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The Supreme Court said on Thursday that the espionage allegations were serious if the information on it was correct, as it began hearing a batch of pleadings calling for an independent investigation into the alleged Pegasus spy case. A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Judge Surya Kant posed a few questions at the outset to lead lawyer Kapil Sibal appearing for the Editors Guild of India and senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar.

“Before we get into all of this, we have some questions. Without a doubt, the allegations are serious, if the information is true,” CJI observed and raised the issue of the delay, saying the case had come to light in 2019.

Spy reports came to light in 2019. I don’t know if efforts were made to get more information, CJI observed, adding that it didn’t mean it was a hindrance.

The Supreme Court said it does not go into the facts of every case and if some people claim their phones have been intercepted then there is the Telegraph Act under which complaints can be made.

“I can explain. We don’t have access to a lot of documents. The petitions contain information on 10 cases of direct infiltration into phones,” Sibal said.

The hearing on no less than nine petitions, including those filed by the Editors’ Guild of India and senior journalists seeking an independent investigation into the alleged Pegasus spy case is currently underway. .

They are linked to reports of suspected espionage by government agencies of prominent citizens, politicians and scribes using Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO.

An international media consortium has reported that more than 300 verified Indian cell phone numbers are on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

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