- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Supreme Court of India is set to hear a petition filed by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar next week seeking a probe into alleged surveillance of several Indian citizens by the country’s Narendra Modi government by using Israeli spyware Pegasus and to identify entities that are responsible for this.
Mentioning the petition before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, senior advocate and leader of the opposition Indian National Congress Kapil Sibal said, “This matter has huge ramifications on civil liberties as it involves surveillance of opposition leaders, journalists and activists. It is creating waves not just in India but abroad as well.”
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The bench, which also comprises Justice Surya Kant, agreed to Sibal’s request to take up the matter the coming week but did not specify a date.
The two senior journalists sought an inquiry into the alleged snooping by a retired or serving judge of the top court to assess the extent of surveillance on Indian citizens and identify the hands that are behind it.
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In their plea, Ram and Kumar said the central government has not categorically denied obtaining Pegasus licenses to carry out surveillance in the response given in the parliament by information technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and sought an exact response from the Modi government.
It also said that no steps have been taken by the Centre to ensure a credible and independent investigation into the matter.
On Friday (30), Union minister of parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi slammed the opposition over disrupting the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament over the Pegasus snooping row and said it was a “non-issue”. He said the government was ready for discussion on people-related issues.
He called the opposition’s behaviour “unfortunate” and urged the protesting members to allow the house to function.
Joshi also noted that Vaishnaw has already given a detailed statement on the issue in both houses of the parliament and that the government was not in favour of passing bills in the parliament without discussion.
