New Delhi, Aug 25 : The Pegasus panel, in its report submitted in the Supreme Court, said the presence of controversial Israeli spyware Pegasus was not conclusively proven in 29 phones that were examined and the Central government did not participate in the investigation.The panel of the highest court-appointed judge said five of 29 phones could be affected with some kind of malware but that doesn’t mean that it was Pegasus spyware.
The panel, led by former Supreme Court judge R.V.Raveendran, submitted its findings in the Apex Court last month.The panel found that the government was not able to fully cooperate when conducting an examination of the phone to detect malware.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V.Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli The bench said that the committee has stated was that the government was not cooperative.
The bench stated: “The same stand you made here, you used there.” The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre said he is unaware of this.
The report was comprised of three sections: the report of the technical committee of the technical committee, digital pictures of phones that were screened for infections due to spyware as well as the report of the judge in charge, Justice Raveendran.The court indicated that it could release the report of Justice Raveendran, but the other components of the report will not be made available to the public.
The report recommended that the cyber security of a country should be strengthened and, while ensuring the privacy of the citizens, it is essential to be sure that no illegal surveillance is permitted.
It was pointed out that there are specific malwares that could be misused, causing security issues and also infringe on the privacy of citizens.The panel recommended that a system should be established in place to monitor the illegality of surveillance and private companies that are that are involved in surveillance should be prosecuted.
In an order posted in the late hours in the evening, the highest court stated: “Pursuant to order dated 27.10.2021 the technical committee as well as the judge in charge have filed their respective reports in sealed cover.The same are recorded as official documents.
The covers that were sealed were opened in the courtroom and we read portions of the reports.The reports were then sealed and placed in the secure storage of the Secretary General of the Court who will provide them whenever requested by the Court.”
The supreme court has remanded the matter for a hearing after four weeks.
On the 27th of October in the year before, the most prestigious court ruled that it was forced to investigate the matter to find out the truth, since it appointed an expert committee of independent experts which was headed by Justice Raveendran, to probe the Pegasus claims of snooping.
The supreme court had authorized the technical committee develop their own procedures to apply and respond to the requirements of reference.The committee was able to conduct any investigation it felt appropriate and collect statements of anyone in relation with the inquiry.
They could also request for the records of any official or person.
Justice Raveendran was to oversee the functioning of the technical committee and he was assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee.
Three members of the technical committee are Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Dr Prabaharan P.Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Amritapuri, Kerala; and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste Chair of the Institute and Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
A plethora of petitions, including those from advocate M.L.Sharma, CPI-M MP John Brittas, journalist N.Ram, former IIM professor Jagdeep Chokkar, Narendra Mishra, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Rupesh Kumar Singh, S.N.M.Abdi as well as the Editors Guild of India were requested to conduct an independent investigation into the Pegasus spying allegations.
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