Five journalists, reported to possess been under surveillance through Pegasus software, have moved the Supreme Court for a judicial oversight mechanism to be found out to affect complaints.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, S.N.M. Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shataksi have moved the apex court, saying they were subjected to “deeply intrusive surveillance”. They said a forensic examination done by Amnesty International on mobile phones revealed traces of interference.
Explained | Pegasus and therefore the laws on surveillance in India
They said their fundamental rights, primarily of privacy, and dignity, were violated by the snooping.
A Bench led by judge of India N.V. Ramana is scheduled to listen to on August 5 three petitions, including one filed jointly by senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, seeking an independent probe headed by a retired or sitting Supreme Court judge into the Pegasus allegations.
Mr. Ram’s petition has asked the court to direct the govt to return clean on whether the surveillance was through with the government’s knowledge or not.
The five journalists have, in their turn, asked the court to direct the govt to supply records or documents to point out that it had in any way authorised the snooping of personal citizens, journalists, activists and even its own Ministers.