Supreme Court Cites Centre's "Vague Denial" in Pegasus case

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on a batch of petitions requesting an independent investigation into the Pegasus espionage case on Wednesday.

On September 13, a bench consisting of Chief Justice N V Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli reserved its decision, stating that it simply wanted to know whether the Centre utilised the Pegasus spyware in an illegal manner to illegally spy on civilians.

The apex court had stated orally that it will form a technical expert committee to look into the case and issue an interim order on the pleas demanding an impartial investigation into the allegations of eminent Indians' phones being hacked using Israeli firm NSO's spyware, Pegasus.

The Supreme Court's comments on the committee's composition are significant in light of the Centre's declaration that it would form its own expert panel to investigate the entire matter.

The Supreme Court had said it would issue an order in a few days and asked the Centre's Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to mention the case if the government reconsidered presenting a thorough affidavit.

The bench had stated that it just needed to hear whether Pegasus was used to allegedly spy on individuals and if it was done lawfully from the Centre, which had indicated its unwillingness to file a lengthy affidavit citing national security.