Pegasus Snooping case: indiscriminate spying on people can’t be allowed.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said indiscriminate spying on individuals cannot be allowed on individuals, forming an expert panel to probe into the Pegasus snoopgate.
The expert committee will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran.
The Chief Justice said, “We have chosen renowned experts to be a part of this committee. The experts are from cyber security and forensics backgrounds. This three-member committee will be headed by RV Raveendran, a former SC judge, and will have Alok Joshi as a member.”
The Supreme Court demanded the committee to file a report within 8 weeks adding that information gathered by agencies is vital against the fight against terrorism and it can interfere in right to privacy only when the topic addresses around the protection of national interests.
The petitions filed before the Supreme Court, includes senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, claiming the alleged snooping represented an attempt by the central agencies to muzzle the exercise of free speech and expression of dissent in India.
The statement also said, “This Court is cognizant of the state’s interest to ensure life and liberty is preserved and must balance the same. For instance, in today’s world, information gathered by intelligence agencies through surveillance is essential for the fight against violence and terror. To access this information, a need may arise to interfere with the right to privacy of an individual, provided it is carried out only when it is absolutely necessary for protecting national security/interest and is proportional.”
The petitions, filed on July 27, ask the Supreme Court to order the Centre to reveal whether the government or any of its agencies purchased a licence for Pegasus spyware and used it to conduct surveillance in any way, either directly or indirectly.