Asaduddin Owaisi hails SC's order on Pegasus row; opines 'it upholds fundamental rights'

AIMIM supremo Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's order constituting an expert panel to probe the Pegasus snoopgate allegations. The controversy came to the fore when French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International accessed a leaked database of 50,000 phone numbers that were allegedly targeted by the Pegasus spyware. As per media reports, it targeted over 300 Indian mobile numbers including that of 40 journalists, businesspersons, one constitutional authority, three opposition leaders and two sitting Ministers in the Union government.

"The Supreme Court's order upholds fundamental rights. I have been saying from the beginning that the surveillance and snooping of no individual citizen should take place. In its verdict, the Supreme Court has said that privacy is the fundamental right of every citizen. We hope that the Supreme Court-constituted committee headed by a retired judge will bring out the truth," Asaduddin Owaisi opined. 

Supreme Court orders probe

The SC bench comprising CJI NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli's order came on petitions filed by advocate ML Sharma, CPI MP John Brittas, Association for Democratic Reforms founder Jagdeep Chhokar, Narendra Mishra, three journalists and the Editors Guild of India. Maintaining that privacy is important for all citizens, the CJI affirmed that the restrictions can be imposed only to safeguard national security. Stressing that surveillance affects the rights of the people, he opined that this technology may have a chilling effect on the freedom of the press.

Expressing concern about the involvement of a foreign agency in spying on Indian citizens, the CJI observed, "The state cannot get a free pass every time by raising national security concerns. No omnibus prohibition can be called against judicial review. The Centre should have justified its stand here and not render the court a mute spectator."

The technical committee will comprise three members- National Forensic Sciences University Dean Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham professor Dr. Prabhakaran P and IIT Bombay professor Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste. The functioning of this committee will be overseen by retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran and will be assisted by ex-IPS officer Alok Joshi and cyber security expert Dr. Sundeep Oberoi. The panel has been directed to prepare the report after a thorough inquiry and place its report before the SC expeditiously.