Fresh plea in SC on Pegasus row seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal
New Delhi Jan 30 PTI A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus seeking that the court take cognisance of a New York Times report on it and order a probe into the 2017 defence deal with Israel The media report claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 has triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to treason The plea filed by advocate ML Sharma who is one of the original petitioners in the case before the top court said the deal was not approved by Parliament and therefore needs to be cancelled and money be recovered He urged the top court to issue suitable directions for registering a criminal case and to investigate the impugned Pegasus spyware purchase deal and alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of justice The media report has said Pegasus and a missile system were the centrepieces of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017 The NYT in its report titled The Battle for the Worlds Most Powerful Cyberweapon said the Israeli firm NSO Group had for nearly a decade been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world promising that it could do what no one else — not a private company not even a state intelligence service — could do consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphoneOn October 27 last year the top court had appointed a 3-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India saying the state cannot get a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised and it cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away fromIn one of the significant verdicts in recent times over the issue of citizens right to privacy a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had said that mere invocation of national security by the state cannot render the judiciary a mute spectator and asserted that indiscriminate spying on individuals in a democratic country cannot be allowedThe apex court said Justice Raveendran will oversee functioning of the three-member panel of cyber security digital forensics networks and hardwareIt had said that former IPS officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi — Chairman Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation International Electro-Technical CommissionJoint Technical Committee — will assist Justice Raveendran to oversee the task to the committeeThe apex court had said it is appointing the committee in view of the six compelling circumstances Right to privacy and freedom of speech are alleged to be impacted which needs to be examined entire citizenry is affected by such allegations due to the potential chilling effect no clear stand taken by the Centre regarding actions taken by it and seriousness accorded to the allegations by foreign countries and involvement of foreign parties PTI MNL MNL DV DV
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New Delhi Jan 30 PTI A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court on the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus seeking that the court take cognisance of a New York Times report on it and order a probe into the 2017 defence deal with Israel The media report claiming India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017 has triggered a major controversy with the Opposition alleging that the government indulged in illegal snooping that amounted to treason The plea filed by advocate ML Sharma who is one of the original petitioners in the case before the top court said the deal was not approved by Parliament and therefore needs to be cancelled and money be recovered He urged the top court to issue suitable directions for registering a criminal case and to investigate the impugned Pegasus spyware purchase deal and alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of justice The media report has said Pegasus and a missile system were the centrepieces of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017 The NYT in its report titled The Battle for the Worlds Most Powerful Cyberweapon said the Israeli firm NSO Group had for nearly a decade been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world promising that it could do what no one else — not a private company not even a state intelligence service — could do consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphoneOn October 27 last year the top court had appointed a 3-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India saying the state cannot get a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised and it cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away fromIn one of the significant verdicts in recent times over the issue of citizens right to privacy a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had said that mere invocation of national security by the state cannot render the judiciary a mute spectator and asserted that indiscriminate spying on individuals in a democratic country cannot be allowedThe apex court said Justice Raveendran will oversee functioning of the three-member panel of cyber security digital forensics networks and hardwareIt had said that former IPS officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi — Chairman Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation International Electro-Technical CommissionJoint Technical Committee — will assist Justice Raveendran to oversee the task to the committeeThe apex court had said it is appointing the committee in view of the six compelling circumstances Right to privacy and freedom of speech are alleged to be impacted which needs to be examined entire citizenry is affected by such allegations due to the potential chilling effect no clear stand taken by the Centre regarding actions taken by it and seriousness accorded to the allegations by foreign countries and involvement of foreign parties PTI MNL MNL DV DV