The Pegasus Scam: A Commendable Move by the Supreme Court?

[Sukla Sen]

The move is, no doubt, highly welcome.

And commendable too - given that, these days, it takes some guts - even on the part of the highest court of the land, to take some plainly sensible decision.

The only apprehension is that, under the obtaining circumstances, the "expert" members, on the committee, may feel too insecure to give an opinion - howsoever justified, which may displease - let alone anger, the regime in place.

That quite a few "experts" approached by the Court have indicated disinclination - to join the contemplated committee, perhaps testifies to that perception.

This sense of panic is far from without any basis.

In fact, the most glaring and illustrative example is that of Ashok Lavasa - a former member of the Election Commission, who got, eventually, hounded out of that august body with liberal use of the proverbial "stick" and, finally, some "carrot" too. Had he been there, he'd have been the CEC today. Mr. Lavasa's crime, as it appears, was that he had been inclined to take independent stands, regardless of whether these would be liked by the regime.

At a very different end, yet another is that the mobile number of the (faceless) woman stuff attached to the then CJI, Ranjan Gogoi, who had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment by her boss, (allegedly) figures in the leaked Pegasus data bank together with those of her close relations.

Under the circumstances, unless the Court can provide some sort of legitimate protection to the prospective members from the very real threat of being harassed - to put it rather mildly, in future, it may so happen that only those who are in search of an opportunity to get into the good books of the regime may actually queue up.

That would defeat the purported purpose.

The Supreme Court said Thursday that it would set up a committee of experts to study the allegations of illegal surveillance using Pegasus spyware and issue orders next week. Expert panels appointed by the court always test the separation of powers but in this case, the move is vital and welcome. When the executive cites national security, a probe under an SC-appointed committee has more credibility than one by a government panel. At stake are vital issues involving civil liberties, including the right to privacy of citizens, the integrity of institutions and due process. The public is entitled to know, as the court said, “whether this spyware has been used by the government by any other method other than permissible under the law”.

(Excerpted from: <https://indianexpress-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/supreme-court-pegasus-spyware-nso-group-7530432/lite/>.)

Also look up: I/II. <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/pegasus-row-sc-to-pronounce-order-next-week-7529112/>.

II. 'Pegasus Scam in Supreme Court Today: Despite Prodding the Centre Refuses to Unseal Its Lips' at <https://groups.google.com/g/greenyouth/c/VBZ30qtLZ88/m/JxfRGYnfCQAJ>.