The Technical Committee appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the use of Pegasus by the Government of India against its own citizens has begun reaching out to people who were allegedly targeted by the spyware, detailing the scope of the probe, and asking them to join the investigation by submitting their infected mobile device and a statement, a notice dated November 26 sent to journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh reveals. Pegasus-maker NSO Group has always maintained that it only sells the spyware, which allows full remote surveillance of the targets’ phones, to governments for national security purposes. But earlier in July, an international consortium of media organisations revealed that political leaders, journalists, human rights activists, businessmen, military officials, intelligence agency officials, and several other Indians were targeted by the Pegasus spyware. Read: Pegasus Spyware: All The Latest Facts On Who Was Targeted, The Modus Operandi, And More Following this revelation, many of the targeted people in India (including Rupesh Kumar Singh) filed petitions before the Supreme Court, questioning the constitutionality of the surveillance. The Court on October 27 formed an expert committee to investigate the issue saying that: “[Citing national security concerns] does not mean that the state gets a free pass every time the spectra of national security is raised. National security is not a bugbear that the judiciary shies away from, by virtue of its mere mention. Although this court should be circumspect in encroaching the area of national security, no omnibus prohibition can be called against judicial review.” Separately, the Justice…
