Pegasus Row: SC To Hear Pleas Seeking Independent Probe On Monday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday will hear a batch of petitions seeking an independent probe into alleged snooping on certain people in India involving Israeli spyware Pegasus.

On September 7, Chief Justice NV Ramana-headed three-judge bench had granted more time to the Centre to decide on filing a further response on the petitions. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, said that he couldn’t meet officials concerned to take a decision on filing a second affidavit.

In a limited affidavit filed in the Supreme Court earlier, the Centre said pleas seeking an independent probe into Pegasus snooping allegations are based on “conjectures and surmises or on other unsubstantiated media reports or incomplete or uncorroborated material”. It was also mentioned that the Centre’s position had already been clarified in Parliament by Information Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The apex court had made it clear that it did not want the government to disclose anything which compromises national security. But it asked the government to constitute a committee of experts to dispel any wrong narrative which may have been spread by certain vested interests and examine the issues raised.

According to a report in international media, over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.