Thread by @internetfreedom

Petitions related to #Pegasus were heard by the Supreme Court today. The petitioners have been directed to serve copies of the petitions to the Union Government and the matter to be listed next week for further consideration.

Here what happened: 🧵1/n

internetfreedom.in/pegasus-rupesh…

Represented in Court by Mr Arvind Datar, Senior Advocate — with legal assistance from IFF — @RupeshKSingh85 & @IpsaShatakshi have asked the Court to declare the use of a spyware like #Pegasus as unconstitutional, and direct the Govt. to disclose all Pegasus-related documents. 2/n

On the basis of a leaked database accessed by @FbdnStories & @amnesty, explosive reports were published last month by an international media consortium that alleged that a spyware, #Pegasus, was being used to conduct targeted surveillance. 3/n

thewire.in/government/pro…

Notably, the agency that sells the #Pegasus spyware (i.e. the NSO group), according to its own reports, sells it to vetted government clients *only*.

This led reports to imply that the targeted surveillance was being conducted by government agencies. 4/n

.@RupeshKSingh85 & @IpsaShatakshi have reported on important issues of displacement, security encounters and arrests of Adivasi communities, who are often framed as Maoists in #Jharkhand. Their numbers were found in the database but the spyware attacks aren't confirmed. 5/n

In their petition, @RupeshKSingh85 & @IpsaShatakshi have described the psychological trauma of the entire incident. Constant worries of surveillance, monitoring and threats to the life & safety of themselves and loved ones have violated their fundamental rights. 6/n

They've pointed out that the Indian government has trivialised legitimate worries around Pegasus & no steps have been taken to remedy this situation. The petition seeks directions to be issued to the Union Govt. to take steps to protect the fundamental rights of Indians. 7/n

Several petitions were heard today, and submissions were made by Senior Advocates such as Mr. Kapil Sibal, Mr. Chander Uday Singh, Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Mr. Shyam Diwan, Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, and Mr. Arvind Datar 8/n

We thank Senior Advocates Mr. Arvind Datar for leading on the matter, and advocates @PrateekKChadha, Mihir Nanwadekar @VrindaBhandari, @TanmayPratapS and @krishnesh78 for providing valuable legal assistance on the matter. 9/n

We also thank Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi (@rakvedi) for leading on Mr. SNM Abdi’s and Mr. Prem Shankar Jha’s petition, and advocate @EklavyaDwivedi for providing valuable legal assistance on the matter. 10/n

We will keep you updated on the next date of hearing! We're fighting for transparency and accountability around the biggest #digitalsecurity leaks in India.

Support the fight by becoming an IFF member.

internetfreedom.in/donate/