Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the allegations of surveillan...
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking an investigation into the allegations of surveillance through the Pegasus spyware, Live Law reported on Thursday.
Sinha sought that the inquiry should be monitored by the court and a mechanism should be set up to oversee any surveillance-related request made by and to any ministry or government agency.
“The respondent government has used a certified military foreign origin spyware against its own citizens,” the plea stated. “The citizens of the country have a right to know whether their personal information was being used by foreign or Indian agencies under the oversight of the respondent government.”
Pointing out that a number of journalists were on the list of potential targets of the spyware, Sinha submitted that the alleged surveillance amounted to violation of an individual’s freedom of expression, Bar and Bench reported. The plea added that the alleged use of the spyware was likely to have a chilling effect on freedom of speech.
The petition was mentioned on Thursday in the Supreme Court along with a batch of pleas seeking similar directions.
The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana observed that the spying allegations, if confirmed, were serious. The court directed the petitioners’ lawyers to serve a copy of their pleas to the...
