Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma filed a PIL seeking a Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the alleged use of Pegasus spyware by the Central Govt to snoop into the phones of several politicians, journalists, social activists & others.
Sharma, in the Public Interest Litigation before the Apex Court, has made the CBI & others as respondents.
He sought a direction from the top court for an SIT probe whether the Central Govt bought the Pegasus spyware following due procedure of law & whether & how it had been used since the purchase.
Sharma, in his petition, a copy accessed by the news agency, filed before the Top Court, raised various constitutional questions of law, including that of as to whether the constitution allows the Prime Minister & his Minister to snoop citizens of India for their vested political interest.
He also questioned that whether buying Pegasus software without approval can not contradict Articles 266(3), 267(2) & 283(2) of the Indian Constitution. For that can the accused persons be not prosecuted under section 408 (Criminal Breach of Trust), 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) & several other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) & other statute, the PIL said.
He also questioned as to whether snooping of common citizens of India, opposition leaders, judges & others do not attract an offence under Section 3 of the Official Secrets (OS) Act, 1923, & as well as 65, 66 & 72 of the Information Technology (IT) Act 2000, coupled with violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution
Sharma said that in the interest of justice & fair play & for the protection of the life & liberty of the citizens of India, the Supreme Court should pass a direction to set up an SIT under the supervision of this court to investigate the Pegasus scandal & to prosecute all accused persons/ ministers for buying Pegasus and snooping of citizens of India, including judges, opposition leaders & political persons, activist, advocates & others.
He also said that the accused persons did this for their vested political interest since 2017.
Sharma also sought that the Supreme Court should declare buying of Pegasus software for snooping is illegal & unconstitutional being violated of Art 21, 266(3), 267(2) & 283 of the constitution of India.
The plea alleged that "The Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern & a serious attack on Indian democracy, judiciary & country's security. The widespread & unaccountable use of surveillance is morally disfiguring. Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted. It is about having a space of one's own where our thoughts & being are not the instruments of someone else's purposes. It is an essential component of dignity & agency".
"Pegasus is a chilling software. It is not just eavesdropping on conversations; it can be used to access the entire digital imprint of your life. It renders helpless not just the owner of the phone hacked but everyone who is in contact with them," the plea said.
The plea filed by Sharma said that "The national security implications of these revelations are enormous. The explosive growth of surveillance technology vendors is a global security & human rights problem. It is not primarily China, but democratic states like: Israel & the UK, that are selling technologies for deepening the surveillance powers of states".
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