Pegasus Row: Technical Committee’s Reports To Remain Sealed, Says SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday (August 25) said that it will keep the reports on the allegations of surveillance by the government using Israeli spyware Pegasus sealed. 

“The sealed covers were opened in the Court and we read out some portions of the said reports. Thereafter, the Reports were re-sealed and kept in the safe custody of the Secretary General of this Court, who shall make it available as and when required by the Court,” the apex court said in an order.

The reports in question pertain to the submissions by a technical committee and the overseeing judge RV Raveendran (ex-SC judge) on August 9 this year on the allegations of surveillance by the union government. 

Citing sensitive personal information, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana was quoted as saying that people who submitted their phones for evaluation had urged the technical committee to keep the report confidential. 

Besides, Justice Raveendran submitted another report with recommendations on a legal regime for data privacy and cyber security in the country. The CJI also opined that while the report of the judge could be published later, it has been decided to keep both the reports sealed for the time being.

The case has now been listed for hearing after four weeks. Interestingly, CJI Ramana heard the matter on the penultimate day of his tenure. 

Reading out from the report over the course of the hearing, the CJI said that five out of 29 mobile phones produced before the technical panel were infected with ‘some malware’. 

No clarity was provided on whether the malware in question was the Pegasus software. 

The hearing in the case on Thursday was marked by terse replies, with the court pulling up the union government on the matter. In one of his remarks, Justice Ramana said that the Government of India did not cooperate in the probe.

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

Last year, an investigation by a consortium of global media organisations as part of the infamous ‘Pegasus Project’ revealed that 174 influential Indians were targeted via the spyware. Afterwards, a New York Times report also claimed that the Indian government had bought Pegasus from Israel as part of a larger deal. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and several other journalists and business persons were among those allegedly targeted.

In the aftermath of the news reports, the Supreme Court formed the technical panel on the issue in October 2021 and asked the committee to submit the report at the earliest. 

Developed by Israel-based NSO Group, Pegasus is a spyware that opens a backdoor in the smartphone device for surveillance. Once installed, the software hands over the entire control of a smartphone to an operator who can remotely access the phone and control its functionalities.