Stating that the Centre can’t get a free pass every time by stating “national security”, the Supreme Court on 27 October appointed an external committee to investigate the allegations of unauthorised use of the Pegasus spyware on citizens.
After weeks of back and forth between the Centre, the petitioners, and the court on Pegasus, the apex court sharply noted in its order that the “vague denial from the government is not sufficient”, and that it had no option but to set up a panel to examine the allegations made by the petitioners.
The court's stern observations on the issue comes after hearing a clutch of petitions, which requested a probe into the allegations of the Centre’s use of the spyware on over 142 Indian citizens.