An advocate has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged surveillance by government agenc...
An advocate has filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged surveillance by government agencies using the Pegasus spyware, PTI reported on Friday. The matter is likely to come up for hearing in the coming days.
A leaked database of over 50,000 numbers, potential targets of surveillance, was first accessed by Paris-based non-profit Forbidden Stories and rights advocacy group Amnesty International and shared with their media partners, including The Wire. This list forms the basis of a global investigation called the Pegasus Project.
Petitioner ML Sharma said the Pegasus row was a serious attack on Indian democracy. He added that the scandal posed a risk to the national security of the country.
“Pegasus is not just a surveillance tool,” read the petition. “It is a cyber-weapon being unleashed on the Indian polity.”
The plea said the Pegasus spyware can be used to access the entire digital imprint of one’s life. “Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted,” said the petition. “It is about having a space of one’s own where our thoughts and being are not the instrument of someone else’s purposes. It is an essential component of dignity and agency.”
In his plea, Sharma has asked the court to...
