The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a country possessing spyware for security purposes is not wrong but using it against a civil society person will be looked into.

“What’s wrong if a country is using spyware? To have spyware is not wrong; against whom you are using it is the question. You can’t sacrifice the security of the nation,” a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh, however, said, “A civil individual who has the right to privacy will be protected under the Constitution.”

Advertisement

The observation by the bench that the right to privacy of a civil individual will be protected came as the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta representing the central government said, “Terrorists cannot claim privacy rights.”

The remarks from the bench that a country possessing spyware for security purposes is not wrong but using it against a civil society person will be looked into came as senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi – appearing for some petitioners, told the court that the basic issue in the case was whether the government had the Pegasus spyware and was using it.

Allowing senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, to place on record a judgment by a US District Court wherein it has given a finding that India is one of the countries where there was a hack. The finding by the US District Court was given in a case instituted by the messaging app WhatsApp against Pegasus.

Sibal asked the bench to order the release of the Justice Raveendran Committee report to the affected individuals, redacting portions which might be sensitive.

However, senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for another petitioner, said the Justice Raveendran Committee report should be disclosed without any redaction, saying that we follow a system of open court.

The bench said that any report touching on the security and sovereignty of the country will not be disclosed but affected individuals can be informed of the report.

“Yes, individual apprehension must be addressed but it cannot be made a document for discussion on the streets,” said the bench.

The court adjourned the top court till July 30, 2025.

The top court had on October 27, 2021, set up an expert committee under the supervision of Justice R.V. Raveendran – the former Supreme Court judge – to probe into the alleged snooping of the mobile phones of political leaders, top court judges, media persons, and eminent people using Pegasus spyware.

The top court had appointed Justice Raveendran committee while thrashing the Centre, flagging national security and the fight against terrorism to stonewall any public disclosure of information.

Three reports were submitted to the top court in a sealed cover, including one by Justice Raveendran, who had recommended updating the laws regulating the surveillance regime to prevent any intrusion of personal devices and protect the privacy of the citizens.

The expert panel – that functioned under the supervision of Justice Raveendran – and had probed the allegation of snooping of the mobile phones of eminent people using Pegasus spyware told the Supreme Court that the government did not cooperate in the task assigned to them by the top court.

Report by the technical expert panel had told a bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana (since retired), Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli (since retired) that only five out of 29 mobiles that were examined were found to be infected with malware but there is no conclusive proof of use of the controversial Israeli company’s spyware that had created a huge hue and cry in the country.

All the reports that were submitted to the top court in a sealed cover were opened on August 25, 2022.

The three reports included digital images of phones examined for spyware infection, a report of the Technical committee, and that of Justice Raveendran, overseeing the probe. The reports in pursuance of the top court order were submitted in July 2022.