Kolkata/New Delhi: Turning down the plea to stay Bengal government notification constituting judicial commission to investigate into the allegation that the BJP-lead Union government used the Pegasus spyware to snoop on citizens, the Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and Bengal government.
A Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Aniruddha Bose, during the hearing on Wednesday, sought responses from the Centre ((Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and Bengal government. The Bench also asked the petitioner, Global Village Foundation Public Trust, to serve a copy to the Respondents. The next date of hearing is August 25.
Seeking an interim relief in form of a stay on further proceedings of the Inquiry Committee, Advocate Saurabh Mishra, representing the petitioner, referred to Section 2A of the Commission of Inquiry Act and submitted that the notification is being challenged primarily on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction.
In response, the Bench pointed out some inconsistency in the petitioner's affidavit. "You say you want an inquiry, then you say the committee is unconstitutional. In an affidavit, you must be consistent," the Bench remarked. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that the "notification is unconstitutional".
On July 26, Bengal Government had announced a commission of inquiry into the alleged surveillance of phones using Pegasus spyware. The committee included retired Supreme Court Justice Madan B Lokur, former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court and Justice (retd) Jyotirmay Bhattacharya. On Monday, a notification to this effect was issued by B.P Gopalika, Additional Chief Secretary, and Government of West Bengal. The notification came days after it was revealed that the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew and Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee was allegedly snooped on by the Pegasus spyware during Bengal Assembly Election held recently.
According to news portal "The Wire" and 16 other media organisations, Pegasus spyware (developed by the Israeli cyber-arms firm NSO Group) has been used illegally to keep tabs on politicians, dissidents, judges and journalists.
An international media consortium has also reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.