NEW DELHI, July 22 : A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the Pegasus snooping scandal. The plea filed by advocate M.L. Sharma has claimed that the snooping scandal is an attack on the Indian democracy.
The plea said: “Pegasus scandal is a matter of grave concern and an attack on the Indian democracy, country’s security and judiciary. The widespread use of surveillance is morally disfiguring. National security implications of this software are huge”.
Insisting for a court-monitored probe, the plea contended that the scandal involves issues concerning national security and judicial independence.
The plea argued that it is a question that whether buying of Pegasus software by central government violates Articles 266(3), 267(2) and 283(2) of the Indian Constitution. The plea further contended that whether it attracts the rigours of sections 408, 409 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
Sharma’s PIL lists the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and the CBI as the respondents. The plea questioned whether Constitution allows Prime Minister and his ministers to snoop citizens of India for their vested political interest?
Earlier, Sharma had PILS in several sensational matters such as Rafale deal, Article 370, Hyderabad police encounter.
Pegasus software made by the Israeli firm NSO Group, can infect smartphones without users’ knowledge and access virtually all their data.
According to a news report, the woman staffer who made sexual harassment allegations against the former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and some of her family members were on the list, as the potential targets of Pegasus snooping. (IANS)