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[#PegasusSnoopingScandal Hearing in Supreme Court]

CJI NV Ramana led bench to shortly hear a batch of petitions by journalists, alleged victims of the scandal and Editors Guild of India seeking an independent probe into the #PegasusSpyware issue

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#Supremecourt

Petitions filed on the #PegasusSnoopingScandal till now:

1) ML Sharma
2) CPI MP John Brittas @JohnBrittas
3) N Ram @nramind
4) Jagdeep Chokkar @JagdeepChhokar
5) Narendra Mishra
6) Rupesh Kumar Singh
7) Paranjoy Guha Thakurta @paranjoygt
8) SNM Abdi
9) Editors Guild of India

Five journalists, who as per media reports were targets of Pegasus spyware, had moved the Supreme Court stating that the unauthorized use of surveillance by government agencies have violated their fundamental rights #PegasusProject
#SupremeCourt

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.@thewire_in had reported that a Rajasthan mobile number formerly registered in the name of Justice Arun Mishra, who retired from the Supreme Court in September 2020, was part of the Pegasus surveillance database #SupremeCourt #PegasusSpyware

Read: barandbench.com/news/litigatio…

The bench of CJI NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant begins hearing today's list of matters at 10.30 am.

The #PegasusProject PILs are at item number 16 onwards.

#SupremeCourt

[Pegasus Snoopgate] These are the 9 petitions which Supreme Court of India will hear today

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

@washingtonpost @thewire @haaretzcom

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Bench of CJI NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant has assembled. Item 1 being taken up now. Pegasus hearing to start shortly at item 10

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

Adv ML Sharma appears

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal also present

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

CJI NV Ramana: Mr Sharma, we have gone through your writ petition. Mr Sibal can argue now

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

Sharma: My matter and their matter is different. They are fabricating data.

CJI: This is not the way of filing the PIL. What is the material apart from paper cuttings.

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

Justice Surya Kant: You made a complaint to CBI and the very next day you file a writ?

Sharma: my plea is not based on paper cuttings.

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

CJI: you have the connections (links) to how many people? We are unable to hear you. You wait

Sr Adv Sibal for N Ram and Sashi Kumar: pegasus is a rogue technology and infiltrates our life without our knowledge.

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

@KapilSibal : all that it requires a phone and enters into our lives. Its assault on privacy, human dignity and value of our human republic, it penetrates into our national internet backbone.

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

CJI: The allegations are serious in nature if reports in media is correct. majority of writ petitions I can see i don't want to compare with similarities in foreign newspapers.

#PegasusSnoopgate #Pegasus #SupremeCourtOfIndia

CJI: You all know that there is a prima facie material as well as credibility of reports where we can order an enquiry etc. unfortunately what i read from writs, in may 2019 this came to light i don't know there was no serious concern about this issue

#PegasusSnoopgate

CJI: People who should have filed the writs are more knowledgeable and resourceful. they should have put more hard work to put more material.

CJI: I don't want to say also that pleas don't have anything. some of the petition who have filed the plea are not affected and some claim their phones are hacked. But they have not made efforts to file a criminal complaint

Sibal: there are names of people who are subject to direct cases of infiltration. In the editors guild matter there are direct infringement. Please take Mr Ram's plea and come to page 100.

Sr Adv Sibal: There is an order of the California court. It reads as once activated it causes the target device to connect with the defendants malware. The malware would then enable and then data is transferred. This is a court order.

Sr Adv Sibal: this spyware is only sold to government agencies and cannot be sold privately.

#pegasus #supremecourt

Sr Adv Sibal: NSO technology is involved in the international arena. Its just not government but the declaration opens the aspect of the involvement in the international scene.

Sibal: giving this to NSO is more serious. no one can dispute now that pegasus cannot infiltrate. It only has to be seen if this has been used in India

CJI: I read somewhere that this agency said they sell to government.

CJI: Somewhere I read this software is sold to vetted governments

Sibal: California court had held that its done at the behest of the government.

Justice Surya Kant: what happened in california? The country had claimed sovereignty immunity

Sibal: the immunity application was rejected by the court

CJI: What is the status?

Sibal: it is pending in California court

CJI: you say in an affidavit that some indian journalists figure in the snooping list. Where did you get it from?
This is in the affidavit by N Ram and says that California court names the indian journalists had their phones tapped. california court does not say it.

Sibal: journalists, constitutional authorities, court officers all were there. The question is have you bought the software, how much was spent? where was this hardware placed? these names cannot be included by someone in California or Israel

Sr Adv Sibal refers to the plea by Editors Guild and question asked by @asadowaisi in parliament: the answer was yes the spyware was developed by Israel group.. and that it included 122 users from India. This is a ministers statement himself

#supremecourt

The two judges discuss among themselves #supremecourt #pegasus

CJI: Please continue Mr Sibal

Sibal: if Centre said this is happening. why did they not lodge an FIR. Why has the govt of India kept quiet. this is about indians privacy and safety. This technology cannot be used in India if not purchased by govt

CJI: can be state govt also

Sibal: Govt of India needs to answer on that front. it is not an internal matter. We cannot give all answers as we don't have access and only govt has. they have to state why they did not take any action. I am told its cost about 55000 dollars to penetrate into once cellphone

Sibal: this poses a big threat to what our republic stands for.

CJI Ramana: why suddenly has this issue cropped after two years?

Sibal: we only got to know from @washingtonpost report and other media agencies

Sibal: extent of which was not known to us. how do we file this petition. Today morning we found out that even registrars of this court has their numbers in snooping list. their phones was also accessed. Some members of judiciary also named

CJI: don't name. Truth will come out

Sibal: please refer to a diagram and see what can pegasus. SMs video photos and emails can be accessed. microphone can be activated aloing with camera and this is how it operates.

Sr Adv Sibal: NSO says products used by central agencies to fight terror. all journalists, court staff are terrorists now. all that we want is notice

#pegasus

Sr Adv CU Singh: Pegasus project was carried on by Amnesty, The Wire and other organisations and these two years were used to probe the list and phones that were tapped were forensically examined. names of people snooped were not known till July 2021

Sr Adv Singh: Please read Section 9 of IT Act and the rules which states only centre and states can do this interception with strict checks and safeguards

CJI: but you can file a case?

Singh: there is no remedy here.

Sr Adv Singh: each and every month the interception orders have to be reviewed.

CJI Ramana: In the Jammu and Kashmir 4G matter we have read all of this.

Sr Adv Meenakshi Arora: the french group which had the list collaborated with other media houses and gave phones for forensics and that is how the names came out. On the floor of parliament this issue was raised in Nov 2019. Please see the John Brittas plea....

Arora: Minister Digvijay Singh had questioned on Whatsapp hacking...

CJI: We have heard this..

Arora: then Minister @rsprasad had responded that violation of law would be acted upon and said there is no unauthorised instruction being done.

Arora: NSO had submitted before the California court that this software can be used only by sovereign entity. if it has been used after you deny then this needs to be investigated. We also need a agency which is independent with a judicial member.

CJI: My question is if you know the phone is hacked then why wasn't an FIR lodged. that is the only question.

Sr Adv Shyam Divan appears: I appear for @JagdeepChhokar

Justice Kant: your phone was hacked?

Divan: yes that was a personal infringement. First regarding media reports, these are not just media reports here and there

Divan: on the basis of this huge investigating story has taken action based on this group in relation to NSO group. these media organisations enjoy very high degree of credibility. a whistleblower had released the numbers. once released numbers of these persons were found

Divan: these numbers are of judicical and constitutional authorities. Mr Chhokar is an academician and for a private citizen to find that a spyware is installed on his phone is equal to war against a citizen by the government

CJI: have you filed an FIR

Divan: no this case requires a independent probe by a fact finding committee. It has to be a highest level bureaucrat who replies to this preferably the cabinet secretary.

Sr Adv Divan: Unlike govt secretaries attached to a particular department, the Cabinet Secretary will have an overview of all departments and know about the surveillance issues.

Sr Adv Rakesh Dwivedi points to a list of 155 names which were snooped and I appear for one such individual whose name was there on the list.

Dwivedi: The Wire confirmed that atleast 40 journalists who were targets or potential targets, seven phones were forensically examined and 5 showed confirmation that they were infected. SNM Abidi and Prem Shankar Jha was also there.

Dwivedi: This is a huge thing where a foreign company is involved. If centre has used or directly used needs to be answered.Centre should have replied on own. this court has to take cognizance of this to ensure that citizens believe that their phones will not be compromised.

Dwivedi: i understand tapping phones of terrorists etc but ordinary people phones cannot be compromised. this is a issue that involves constitutionality and not only criminality.

Sr Adv Arvind Datar: I appear for two journalists whose names appear in the snooping list. regarding steps i take section 43 allows me to file a suit for damages. we know pegauss has been used now who has used and when we don't know.

Datar: Privacy is about privacy of ones bodily area. so there are no provisions for me to file an FIR

Sr Adv Datar: somebody has definitely accessed my computer and remedy is damages and for this we should know who did. We need to know if the allegations are true. This IT Act was framed in 2000 and amendments were in 2009

CJI: 66a is applicable i think

Datar:it was struck down

CJI: but there were rules framed in relation to Section 66A of IT Act

CJI: Section 66 also there

Datar: Section 66 (c) also applies as we are on privacy. one is rights in rem and individual cases which have come to light. Please see Section 66E where one intentionally captures the private area of a citizen is charged with violation of privacy

Datar: Now 9 judge bench stated privacy permeates all through part 3 of the constitution. today 300 people have come to light, who else will take cognizance of this apart from judiciary. we don't know its 300 or 3000 individuals.

Sr Adv Datar: this can be taken up as a class action case.

Adv ML Sharma: please come to page 10 of my plea

CJI: No please summarise

Sharma: Now Facebook and Whatsapp had signed a consent statement. there are apprehensions on what was said before USA court. once you enter computer you get pass word and everything else. This is very important and any document can be planted. Declaration by NSO very important

Bench discusses.

CJI Ramana: Anybody served copy to Centre

Sr Adv Divan: we have given it to the Solicitor and Attorney General

CJI: all other parties all serve your petitions to Centre

CJI: Mr Sharma the problem is your petition You have impleaded some parties whom we cannot issue notice directly. don't take advantage of this. List this matter next Tuesday and all pleas to be served upon Centre

The Supreme Court bench informed that another petition has been filed by Yashwant Sinha and not numbered yet.

CJI: There are too many writ petitions. We will have to see

Justice Kant: one of the pleas has challenged the vires of Section 69 of IT Act and Telegraph Act

Matter to be heard next on August 10

No notice has been issued

#supremecourt #pegasus

CJI led bench clarifies without Central government present in the hearing, the bench cannot proceed as of now.

#supremecourt #PegasusSnoopgate