Advocate M.L. Sharma has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court seeking probe into alleged use of Israeli spy software Pegasus by the Central government to snoop into phones of politicians, activists and journalists. The PIL seeks an investigation by an SC-appointed Special Investigation Team.
Sharma is the first off the block to file a PIL in the Supreme Court in the controversial snoopgate case. The plea says it is a question of whether buying Pegasus software by the Centre without approval violates Article 266(3), 267(2) & 283(2) of the Constitution.
Pegasus is a serious attack on the country and its judiciary, Sharma says in his plea.
Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted. It is about having a space of one's own where our thoughts and being are not the instrument of someone else's purposes. It is an essential component of dignity and agency, it said.
The plea said the use Pegasus was not just eavesdropping on conversations but can be used to access the entire digital imprint of one's life as it renders helpless not just the owner of the phone hacked but everyone who is in contact with him.
The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the coming days, said the national security implications of the revelations were enormous as the explosive growth of surveillance technology vendors is a global security and human rights problem.
The PIL claimed that around 50,000 phone numbers were believed to be targeted by clients of the company, NSO Group, since 2016, that was leaked to major news outlets.
Pegasus is not just a surveillance tool. It is a cyber-weapon being unleashed on the Indian polity. Even if authorised (which is doubtful), the use of Pegasus poses a national security risk, it said.
The plea further sought to declare buying of Pegasus software for snooping illegal and unconstitutional.
Sharma has made Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers as well as CBI respondents in his PIL. He has also sought information on how Pegasus was used since the purchase.
Interestingly, Sharma is a serial PIL litigant who had rushed to the court in controversial matters such as Rafale deal, Article 370, and Hyderabad police encounter, among others.
An international media consortium has claimed that several Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, two union ministers, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee and some 40 journalists were among those whose phone numbers were listed as potential targets for hacking through the Israeli spyware which is usually supplied to government agencies.
The Indian government and Israeli surveillance company NSO Group, which sells Pegasus spyware worldwide, have refuted the reports.
The issue also rocked proceedings in Parliament as opposition parties launched a scathing attack on the government.
Speaking in Lok Sabha, Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had dismissed the reports as "baseless" and said that the allegations levelled just ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament were aimed at maligning Indian democracy.
(With PTI inputs)