While hearing the Pegasus spyware case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court stated that there is nothing inherently wrong with a nation possessing spyware for national security. The Court emphasized that the primary concern is how such tools are used and against whom. However, it noted that allegations regarding the use of spyware on private individuals would be examined.
Supreme court was hearing cases on Pegasus spyware case
The bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, was considering multiple writ petitions filed in 2021. These petitions called for an independent investigation into claims that journalists, activists, and politicians were surveilled using Pegasus, an Israeli-made spyware. The Court maintained that national security cannot be compromised.
“There is nothing wrong if the country possesses spyware. The question is not about having it, but about whom it is used against. National security cannot be compromised or sacrificed,” said Justice Kant, responding to Senior Advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, who questioned whether the government owned and used Pegasus.
Top Court says right to privacy of citizens must be protected
When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that “terrorists cannot claim privacy rights,” Justice Kant responded by affirming that private citizens have a constitutional right to privacy that must be protected.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the petitioners, cited a U.S. District Court judgment which found that the Israeli firm NSO Group had used Pegasus to hack WhatsApp. He also highlighted that the court had identified India as one of the affected countries.
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In reply, Justice Surya Kant noted that the Supreme Court had already delivered a detailed verdict on the issue and had formed a committee led by former Justice R.V. Raveendran to look into the allegations. The Court clarified that the expert panel’s findings could not be released publicly, as that would reduce the matter to a topic of public speculation.
“Concerns raised by individuals must be addressed, but the report should not become material for street-level discussions,” the Court observed.
Pegasus spyware row
The Pegasus controversy erupted in 2021 after an international media consortium, the Pegasus Project, revealed that spyware developed by NSO Group may have been used to target over 300 Indian mobile numbers. The list of potential targets reportedly included journalists, opposition leaders, government officials, activists, and even sitting Supreme Court judges—raising serious concerns over privacy, press freedom, and possible misuse of surveillance technology by the government.
The three-member committee, headed by Justice R.V. Raveendran, submitted its findings in July 2022. While it found no evidence of Pegasus on any of the 29 mobile phones examined, it did detect other malware on five of them. Significantly, the report also stated that the Government of India did not cooperate with the investigation.
