Surveillance

Pegasus Spyware: Need For Thorough Investigation
in Human Rights — by E A S Sarma — 22/07/2021

https://countercurrents.org/2021/07/pegasus-spyware-need-for-thorough-investigation/

While the Union government may not have used the spyware by itself, it may still be aware of the intelligence agencies at the Centre and in the States using the same, in which case, it should disclose the same fact to the Parliament without any
A spyware like Pegasus has many potential avenues of misuse. The fact that the Centre may not have used it does not preclude its misuse in India by some other agencies, which could be domestic or There are national security concerns in this. Therefore, in my view, it is not prudent for the government to be in a total state of denial before the Parliament. Any kind of misuse of any spyware makes it mandatory for the government to probe the same.

SC Pegasus Ruling Historic; An Indictment of Modi Government: Dushyant Dave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-Er8fzUM8g Oct 27, 2021

In a 18-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Dushyant Dave, a former President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, said the judgement is based on the Supreme Court’s assumption that Pegasus was used and that the right to privacy of Indian citizens was breached. He says the language used by the Supreme Court about national security and privacy “clearly establishes the Court is worried about the infringement of citizen’s right”.

Dushyant Dave says: “The Supreme Court has clearly and categorically stood with the citizens of India”. He adds: “It has told the government enough is enough”. He says the Supreme Court has said: “We are here as watchdogs”.

Pegasus Project: जासूसी कांड पर Supreme Court का ऐतिहासिक आदेश, कटघरे में Modi सरकार | Arfa Kahnum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YE9PfKVrkE 27 Oct 2012

The Supreme Court on Wednesday constituted a committee of experts to probe the case of alleged spying of Indian citizens through Israeli spyware 'Pegasus'. The court said that privacy cannot be violated under the guise of national security.
The Supreme Court said its endeavor is to uphold the constitutional aspirations and rule of law without indulging in "political rhetoric", but added that the petitions filed in the matter raise "Orwellian concerns".
Orwellian refers to that unjust and authoritarian position, idea or social condition, which is destructive to the welfare of a free and open society.
A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli quoted English novelist Orwell as saying, "If you want to keep something a secret, you must also hide it from yourself."

"Won't Be A Mere Spectator": SC's Earful For Modi Govt, Appoints Committee To Probe Pegasus Case https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnjDHtFBneA Oct 27, 2021

"More than a month after reserving its interim order in the Pegasus Snooping Case, the Supreme Court finally today announced its order in the case. The Supreme court appointed an independent committee comprising three technical experts who will be supervised by its retired judge Justice R V Raveendran. The committee has been tasked to conduct a “thorough inquiry” into allegations of use of Pegasus software for unauthorised surveillance by the govt. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said the committee will “enquire, investigate and determine” whether Pegasus Spyware was used to snoop upon the Indian citizens? What steps did the GoI take? Were there any enquiries conducted post-2019 revelations regarding the Pegasus spyware? and whether it was the Government of India which bought the Pegasus spyware?
A very important order has been given by the Supreme Court today. The Pegasus snooping row has already kicked up a political storm with much of the monsoon session being disrupted over the issue. But the issue is beyond just a political slugfest between ruling party and the opposition. The Issue is about the Citizens of India and their rights. That Right to Privacy is a fundamental right and snooping of citizens means breaching that fundamental right. it is important to find out who is responsible for this.
Today, the Supreme court of India has asked the committee to submit its report within 2 months. Additionally, the Supreme Court had some very pertinent observations for the Government of India which has remained rather stubborn over the Pegasus issue calling it a conspiracy by anti-national elements.

Prime Time With Ravish Kumar | Pegasus Snooping Case Highlights: Supreme Court Forms Probe Panel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JczpmsqBJ2k  Oct 27, 2021

Pegasus: The Law May Permit the State to Intercept Phones but Not to Weaponise Them by  Soutik Banerjeehttps://thewire.in/law/pegasus-our-law-permits-the-state-to-intercept-phones-but-not-to-weaponise-them 18/Aug/2021

The distinction between intercepting information sent through a phone and a phone working as a spy cam to record one’s actions and communications which were not carried out through the said device is crucial.

While the government is suggesting that any public discussion on the use of Pegasus may pose a threat to national security – the CJI has said that the court will be mindful of this – that in itself does not prevent a discussion on the legal regime of surveillance in India and whether the use of Pegasus would fall within or without the confines of the law.

Rule 2(f) of the Information Technology (Procedure for Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009, which were passed in furtherance of Section 69 of the IT Act which provides power to issue directions for interception, decryption or monitoring of information.

Interception is defined to mean the acquisition of the contents of any information so as to make the contents of the information available to any person other than the sender, recipient or intended recipient of the communication. Thus, it is amply clear that ‘interception’ can only be done of the contents of information that forms part of some ‘communication’ through a computer resource, and not of actions and conversations that simply happen to be near a computer resource.

The ‘yes or a no’ the Court must ask about Pegasus Gautam Bhatia
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-yes-or-a-no-the-court-must-ask-about-pegasus/article36953053.ece   OCTOBER 12, 2021

The issues before the Court were simple: did the Government of India authorise the use of Pegasus upon the individuals whose names had appeared in the list? If it did, was there any justification for the use of such intrusive surveillance upon individuals who, admittedly, were not accused of any wrongdoing? And if it did not, was it not a breach of the
Government’s constitutional obligations to protect its citizens from the use of military-grade surveillance by rogue actors?

..Throughout the hearings, the Government continued upon its track of evasion.. whenever the question of widespread and serious rights violations arises, the Government recites the words “national security” like a mantra, not simply to avoid providing answers, but to hint that even asking the question is somehow illegitimate. In this way, “national security” becomes a cloak for impunity.

A record of the hearings so far indicates that the Court has allowed the Government to get away with much of its evasion. Despite the passage of two and a half months, the Court is yet to pass anyconsequential orders 

On the last date of hearing, September 13, the Court indicated that it would establish a Committee to look into the matter.

In India, we have a long experience of “death by Committee”: issues that require urgent attention linger for many months in a Committee, and once public memory has dulled, are given a quiet burial.