<p>The Supreme Court’s initiative to get to the root of the Pegasus scandal has remained inconclusive, and the ruling BJP has disingenuously sought to portray this to the public as proof that the Narendra Modi government did no wrong in the matter of the spyware being used to snoop on citizens, and the court’s comments as a ‘clean chit’ to the government. The court did well to appoint a committee under retired Justice R V Raveendran to probe charges that the Israeli malware was secretly and illegally introduced into the mobile phones of Opposition leaders, judges, critics of the government, activists, journalists, and even ministers, to snoop on them. The committee has, in its report, said that five of the 29 devices that it examined were seen to be infected by a malware, but it was not sure whether it was Pegasus or other malware. The report is unlikely to allay fears of hacking and surveillance of citizens by the government.</p>.<p>The most important part of the report, quoted by Chief Justice N V Ramana in the court, is that the government did not cooperate with the committee in its investigation. The CJI said he was sorry to note that in the matter of investigation, the government had stuck to the position it had taken in the court when the petition was heard. The government has refused to answer in public, in parliament and in court the question whether it had bought the spyware from the Israeli company or not. It had cited national security as the reason for its refusal, though the court had clearly said that it could not invoke that bogey on every issue. There would have been no threat to national security if the government had cooperated with the court-appointed committee, which would have ensured the confidentiality of any information given to it.</p>.<p>So, the BJP’s claim that the committee’s report is a ‘clean chit’ for the government is not correct. When there were credible circumstances to show that the government had probably used the spyware, it had the responsibility to prove that it had not. Even now, it has not categorically denied using Pegasus. It is a disturbing thought that even the Supreme Court could not persuade the government to be part of an investigation that the court considered important and which had a bearing on the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy. The court had directed the government to extend full cooperation and facilities to the committee for its investigation. But the government chose to defy it. That raises the question how a decision or action of the government can be investigated when even a Supreme Court initiative can be stonewalled.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court’s initiative to get to the root of the Pegasus scandal has remained inconclusive, and the ruling BJP has disingenuously sought to portray this to the public as proof that the Narendra Modi government did no wrong in the matter of the spyware being used to snoop on citizens, and the court’s comments as a ‘clean chit’ to the government. The court did well to appoint a committee under retired Justice R V Raveendran to probe charges that the Israeli malware was secretly and illegally introduced into the mobile phones of Opposition leaders, judges, critics of the government, activists, journalists, and even ministers, to snoop on them. The committee has, in its report, said that five of the 29 devices that it examined were seen to be infected by a malware, but it was not sure whether it was Pegasus or other malware. The report is unlikely to allay fears of hacking and surveillance of citizens by the government.</p>.<p>The most important part of the report, quoted by Chief Justice N V Ramana in the court, is that the government did not cooperate with the committee in its investigation. The CJI said he was sorry to note that in the matter of investigation, the government had stuck to the position it had taken in the court when the petition was heard. The government has refused to answer in public, in parliament and in court the question whether it had bought the spyware from the Israeli company or not. It had cited national security as the reason for its refusal, though the court had clearly said that it could not invoke that bogey on every issue. There would have been no threat to national security if the government had cooperated with the court-appointed committee, which would have ensured the confidentiality of any information given to it.</p>.<p>So, the BJP’s claim that the committee’s report is a ‘clean chit’ for the government is not correct. When there were credible circumstances to show that the government had probably used the spyware, it had the responsibility to prove that it had not. Even now, it has not categorically denied using Pegasus. It is a disturbing thought that even the Supreme Court could not persuade the government to be part of an investigation that the court considered important and which had a bearing on the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy. The court had directed the government to extend full cooperation and facilities to the committee for its investigation. But the government chose to defy it. That raises the question how a decision or action of the government can be investigated when even a Supreme Court initiative can be stonewalled.</p>
