The Supreme Court hearing on Pegasus saw arguments from the Solicitor General of India who had been given time in yesterday's hearing to check whether the government will file an additional affidavit. The government of India today once again brought up "National Security" as the reason for not filing an additional affidavit in the Pegasus case, responding to complaints made by petitioners, even as the Supreme Court issued a notice before admission to the government. The matter will be heard now after 10 days. "This cannot be a subject matter for public debate", Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India, saying that software can be used, and "we have nothing to hide. Which is used or not used is essentially a matter of national security." Terrorists will take preemptive actions if they know: Pointing towards the petitioners, Mehta said that "Mr Sibal pointed out that there is a statutory mechanism in the form of an Act and rules, which permits that you can have surveillance as per a defined procedure for terrorism and national security. All petitions pray for the Supreme Court to inquire into this. Yesterday, the stand was: either [the government says] that Pegasus was used or not used. Kindly appreciate that it is nobody's case that IT procedures and rules are in existence for states national security purposes. These softwares can be used. They want us to divulge which software is not used. The purpose for which software is used by any country will not be divulged.…
