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    Editorial: Call to clip Pegasus’ wings

    The Supreme Court’s decision to constitute a committee to independently probe the allegations of unauthorised surveillance by Pegasus is most welcome and will strengthen the confidence in the judiciary.

    Editorial: Call to clip Pegasus’ wings
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    Supreme Court of India. File photo

    Chennai

    The overarching principle laid down by the Bench is an eminently sensible one, namely that the threat to national security does not automatically confer a free pass on the government. The details that have emerged in the media about the alleged illegal use of the Pegasus spyware, developed and sold by Israel’s NSO Group, are extremely worrying. They suggest that mobile phones around the world – used by politicians, journalists, representatives of NGOs and others – were targeted for tapping.

    The wealth of investigative detail coupled with the Centre’s dogged attempt to hinder any attempt to uncover the truth must have weighed on the three-member Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramanna. The Narendra Modi government offered to set up its own committee to investigate the issue, which is a bit rich, given its obfuscation on the issue. There are many hugely important issues at play here, and they include the privacy of individuals, the possible breach in surveillance norms, and the limits to which governments can go on blocking information that is central to healthy democratic functioning.

    While some of the facts relating to this alleged snooping may be fuzzy, Israel has made it absolutely clear that the NSO Group was licenced to sell its surveillance software only to legitimate governments and not to non-State actors. As a result, the probability that Pegasus was used by the Centre, possibly some wing or group of the deep State, is real. With the Centre itself claiming, somewhat vaguely, to be in possession of information that Indian Whatsapp accounts could have been targeted by Pegasus, the chances of government complicity are even greater.

    What will come out of the investigations conducted by the Supreme Court-constituted committee headed by Justice RV Raveendran? There is a possibility that the truth will remain elusive. Israel has already declared that the controversy is India’s internal matter and its remit is limited to ensuring that Pegasus is purchased only by governments. As for the Centre, it is highly unlikely to spill all the beans. India’s Pegasus list contains references to some people who are arguably threats to national security, but there are so many others who are totally above board, who should never have been put under surveillance.

    At a larger level, software such as Pegasus could pose serious problems globally. It is not even necessary to make an outgoing call or get someone to click on a link to infect a phone. The implication of such software falling into the hands of governments is scary. But if such software lands up in the lap of terror groups and other unsavoury non-state actors, the implications could be truly dangerous. The world needs to consider, in this wired and interconnected space, regulations to limit the infringement of privacy.

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