Pegasus Probe: Supreme Court Says Indian Government Has Not Cooperated

During the hearing of the Pegasus surveillance case in the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana noted that the panel appointed by the apex court said that the government of India has not cooperated in the probe in the case.

“One thing committee has said, Government of India has not cooperated. The same stand you took here, you have taken there…” CJI Ramana told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.

The panel submitted its report on August 9, after multiple delays. While the judgement on the matter is yet to come, the Supreme Court is currently hearing the case, with CJI Ramana hearing the monumental case on his penultimate day as India’s Chief Justice.

During a hearing on the matter last year, the CJI had told Solicitor General Mehta that “beating about the bush” would not solve the problem. It is prudent to note here that the government has never disclosed whether it used Pegasus spyware, stating that it was an issue of national security.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed the government’s defence, stating that the government does not get a free pass by merely invoking national security.

The apex court formed the technical committee on the issue in October 2021 and asked it to submit the report at the earliest. However, the committee ended up missing one deadline.

The technical committee found malware in five out of the 29 mobile phones that were submitted to it. However, it remains unclear whether the malware was Pegasus or not. Further, the participating members who submitted their devices asked the technical committee to not release the report, making it harder to ascertain the same.

Pegasus is spyware developed by the NSO Group, a cyber-arms company based in Israel. The software can be installed on a target’s mobile phone via a zero-click exploit, opening a backdoor in the device for surveillance. NSO Group claims to sell the Pegasus spyware only to government bodies across the world.

Once Pegasus is installed, the entire control of a smartphone goes to the operator, who can remotely access the phone and control functionalities and features. The software can’t even be detected via crash logs that smartphones regularly send by shutting the function altogether.

Last year, The Wire, in collaboration with 16 other global media organisations, investigated the Pegasus project and revealed a list of 174 influential Indians who were targeted through the spyware. 

The New York Times confirmed the report later, stating that the Indian government had bought Pegasus from Israel as part of a bigger deal. Notable targeted individuals include politicians such as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, along with several journalists, businesspeople and others.

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