Munmun Kaur
Published On: January 03, 2022 at 12:58 IST
In an advertisement in several national dailies, the technical committee constituted by the Supreme Court to look into the allegations of snooping by the Pegasus spyware invited all the citizens who have a reason to suspect that their mobile phones have been compromised, to contact the panel by noon on January 07.
Further, the Committee asked the citizens to state their reasons as to why they think their devices have been infected by the NSO Group Israel’s Pegasus spyware, along with the disclosure of whether they would be in a position to allow the committee to examine their devices. If the reasons given for the individual’s suspicion compel further Investigation, the committee will ask the individual to hand over the device for tests.
The three-member technical Committee which was set up by a three-Judge Bench of Chief Justice of India N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, on October 27 consists of Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, dean of National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar; Dr Prabaharan P, professor at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Kerala; and Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair associate professor at IIT, Bombay as panel members. Also, the work of the committee is supervised by a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice R V Raveendran.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the committee to determine, among other things, whether the software was acquired by a State or the Central government, and that if a State, Centre, or any of its agencies had used the software, what laws and procedures had been followed.
As per the revelation made by the global media Investigation, the spyware has targeted Journalists, Activists, and even some Union Ministers. After this, some Journalists and Activists had moved to the Apex Court seeking the formation of a technical Committee to look into the matter.