The Supreme Court of India is slated to hear nine petitions today on Pegasus snoopgate..The petitions will be heard by a Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant. Below are the details of the nine petitions..Advocate Manohar Lal SharmaSharma is usually the first person to approach the Court by way of public interest litigation (PIL) when a politically sensitive scandal breaks out and it was no different this time too.Sharma was the lead petitioner in the Coal scam and he has also been fined before by the top court for filing frivolous PIL petitions.In his petition on Pegasus, Sharma has submitted that the scandal is an attack on Indian democracy and involves issues concerning national security and judicial independence."Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern and an attack on the Indian democracy, country's security and judiciary. The widespread use of surveillance is morally disfiguring. National security implications of this software is huge," the plea said.Prayer: Sharma has prayed for a court monitored probe into the scandal. .Rajya Sabha MP John BrittasBrittas, who belongs to CPI(M), is a Member of Parliament from Kerala. He was the second person to approach the apex court after Sharma.Brittas has submitted that snooping, phone tapping, wiretapping, line bugging etc. are the monitoring of the phone or the internet based conversations by a third party, is a critical invasion into an individual’s privacy."This is in clear derogation of Article-21 of the Indian Constitution unambiguously stating that no person shall be deprived of his life for personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law," the plea said.Prayer: Brittas has sought directions from the Court to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the scandal..N Ram and Sashi KumarDirector of Hindu Group of publications N Ram and founder of Asianet Sashi Kumar approached the Court contending that Right to privacy extends to use and control over one’s mobile phone/electronic device and any interception by means of hacking/tapping is an infraction of Article 21.They have submitted that a forensic analysis of several mobile phones belonging to persons targeted for surveillance by the Security Lab of Amnesty International have confirmed Pegasus-induced security breaches."Such targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India," the petition stated.They have also pointed out that the government has not categorically ruled out obtaining Pegasus licenses to conduct surveillance in their response, and have taken no steps to ensure a credible and independent investigation into these extremely serious allegations.Prayer: The plea has sought a judicial enquiry by a sitting or a retired judge into the scandal.The two journalists have also sought directions to be issued to the Government of India to disclose if the government or any of its agencies have obtained license for Pegasus spyware or used it either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance as alleged..Editors Guild of IndiaThis is the fourth PIL petition on the issue.The Editors Guild of India, a society established with the object of protecting press freedom, has challenged the constitutional vires of electronic surveillance, hacking and use of spyware, and the existing legal architecture for surveillance."The citizens of India have a right to know if the Executive government is infringing the limits of their authority under the Constitution and what steps have been taken to safeguard their fundamental rights," the society submitted.It has also taken specific exception to journalists being targeted using the spyware stating that freedom of the press relies on non-interference by the government and its agencies in reporting of journalists.Prayer: The EGI has sought a probe by SIT into the scandal.Pertinently, they have also sought directions to be issued to the Central government to produce details of contracts entered into with foreign companies for deploying spyware for surveillance and the persons against whom such spyware was used.They have further prayed that directions be issued to the Central government to produce the orders issued authorising the interception, monitoring and decryption of electronic communication devices of Indian citizens under the relevant law and rules, with the reasons in writing for issuance of the same..Two other PILsTwo other PIL petitions one by Jagdeep S Chhokar and another by Narendra Mishra will also be heard today though more details regarding the same is yet to be obtained..Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa ShatakshiThe two are journalists whose names feature in the list of persons snooped using Pegaus. Since they are persons affected personally, the plea is not a PIL but a writ petition stating that the unauthorized use of surveillance by government agencies have violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.The petitioners have alleged that they were subjected to "deeply intrusive surveillance and hacking by the Government of India or some other third party".Prayer: They have prayed that directions be issued to the Central government to produce and disclose to the Supreme Court all materials and documents with respect to all investigation, authorisation, and orders pertaining to the use of Pegasus on them.Pertinently, the petitioners have also asked for a judicial oversight mechanism be put in place to deal with any complaints on illegal breaches of privacy and hacking and to punish all government officials responsible for such breaches..Paranjoy Guha ThakurtaThakurta is another journalist whose name has come up in the list of those spied. His plea and prayers are also similar to the plea by Singh and Shatakshi..SNM Abidi and Prem Shankar JhaThey are also journalists who feature in Pegasus list and have approached the Court seeking similar reliefs as the other three.
The Supreme Court of India is slated to hear nine petitions today on Pegasus snoopgate..The petitions will be heard by a Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant. Below are the details of the nine petitions..Advocate Manohar Lal SharmaSharma is usually the first person to approach the Court by way of public interest litigation (PIL) when a politically sensitive scandal breaks out and it was no different this time too.Sharma was the lead petitioner in the Coal scam and he has also been fined before by the top court for filing frivolous PIL petitions.In his petition on Pegasus, Sharma has submitted that the scandal is an attack on Indian democracy and involves issues concerning national security and judicial independence."Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern and an attack on the Indian democracy, country's security and judiciary. The widespread use of surveillance is morally disfiguring. National security implications of this software is huge," the plea said.Prayer: Sharma has prayed for a court monitored probe into the scandal. .Rajya Sabha MP John BrittasBrittas, who belongs to CPI(M), is a Member of Parliament from Kerala. He was the second person to approach the apex court after Sharma.Brittas has submitted that snooping, phone tapping, wiretapping, line bugging etc. are the monitoring of the phone or the internet based conversations by a third party, is a critical invasion into an individual’s privacy."This is in clear derogation of Article-21 of the Indian Constitution unambiguously stating that no person shall be deprived of his life for personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law," the plea said.Prayer: Brittas has sought directions from the Court to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the scandal..N Ram and Sashi KumarDirector of Hindu Group of publications N Ram and founder of Asianet Sashi Kumar approached the Court contending that Right to privacy extends to use and control over one’s mobile phone/electronic device and any interception by means of hacking/tapping is an infraction of Article 21.They have submitted that a forensic analysis of several mobile phones belonging to persons targeted for surveillance by the Security Lab of Amnesty International have confirmed Pegasus-induced security breaches."Such targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India," the petition stated.They have also pointed out that the government has not categorically ruled out obtaining Pegasus licenses to conduct surveillance in their response, and have taken no steps to ensure a credible and independent investigation into these extremely serious allegations.Prayer: The plea has sought a judicial enquiry by a sitting or a retired judge into the scandal.The two journalists have also sought directions to be issued to the Government of India to disclose if the government or any of its agencies have obtained license for Pegasus spyware or used it either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance as alleged..Editors Guild of IndiaThis is the fourth PIL petition on the issue.The Editors Guild of India, a society established with the object of protecting press freedom, has challenged the constitutional vires of electronic surveillance, hacking and use of spyware, and the existing legal architecture for surveillance."The citizens of India have a right to know if the Executive government is infringing the limits of their authority under the Constitution and what steps have been taken to safeguard their fundamental rights," the society submitted.It has also taken specific exception to journalists being targeted using the spyware stating that freedom of the press relies on non-interference by the government and its agencies in reporting of journalists.Prayer: The EGI has sought a probe by SIT into the scandal.Pertinently, they have also sought directions to be issued to the Central government to produce details of contracts entered into with foreign companies for deploying spyware for surveillance and the persons against whom such spyware was used.They have further prayed that directions be issued to the Central government to produce the orders issued authorising the interception, monitoring and decryption of electronic communication devices of Indian citizens under the relevant law and rules, with the reasons in writing for issuance of the same..Two other PILsTwo other PIL petitions one by Jagdeep S Chhokar and another by Narendra Mishra will also be heard today though more details regarding the same is yet to be obtained..Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa ShatakshiThe two are journalists whose names feature in the list of persons snooped using Pegaus. Since they are persons affected personally, the plea is not a PIL but a writ petition stating that the unauthorized use of surveillance by government agencies have violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.The petitioners have alleged that they were subjected to "deeply intrusive surveillance and hacking by the Government of India or some other third party".Prayer: They have prayed that directions be issued to the Central government to produce and disclose to the Supreme Court all materials and documents with respect to all investigation, authorisation, and orders pertaining to the use of Pegasus on them.Pertinently, the petitioners have also asked for a judicial oversight mechanism be put in place to deal with any complaints on illegal breaches of privacy and hacking and to punish all government officials responsible for such breaches..Paranjoy Guha ThakurtaThakurta is another journalist whose name has come up in the list of those spied. His plea and prayers are also similar to the plea by Singh and Shatakshi..SNM Abidi and Prem Shankar JhaThey are also journalists who feature in Pegasus list and have approached the Court seeking similar reliefs as the other three.
