Pegasus Row: SC refuses to force a report, govt offers to probe charges

New Delhi

The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana would on Tuesday deliberate on whether the Centre should file a detailed affidavit in the matter, after the short one in which it submitted on Monday that the pleas were based on conjectures and surmises or on other unsubstantiated media reports or incomplete or uncorroborated material .

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the matter, if gone into on the basis of unsubstantiated reports, may have national security implications and it cannot be handled by asking furnish an affidavit etc .

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in a two-page affidavit told the bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, that to dispel any wrong narrative spread by certain vested interests and with an object of examining the issues raised, the Centre will constitute a Committee of Experts in the field which will go in to all aspects of the issue.

“You see, when the government is reluctant, then can you force it to file a detailed affidavit,” the bench said, adding, Mehta said, “The government is not reluctant at all... I ask myself a question if a one page affidavit is filed saying that Pegasus was not used then will they withdraw the petitions? The answer is no.”The Solicitor General said that the Pegasus issue would involve the aspect of national security and the matter is sensitive .At the outset, Mehta told the bench that this issue is “highly technical” and expertise was needed to examine the aspects.

“There is nothing to hide. It needs an examination by a committee of experts. This is a highly technical issue. We will appoint eminent neutral experts from the field,” he said.