The Supreme Court on Thursday will hear petitions seeking a special investigation into the Pegasus snooping scandal involving allegations that opposition politicians, journalists and others were targeted by the Israeli spyware. A two-member bench, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, will hear the petitions.
Senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, CPM MP John Brittas and advocate ML Sharma in their petitions sought direction to the government to disclose whether it has obtained a licence for the spyware or used it directly or indirectly to conduct surveillance of any kind.
Ram and Sashi Kumar said in their plea that such “targeted surveillance” using a “military-grade spyware” is an invasion on the right to privacy and that the civil liberties of citizens are under threat.
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