Pegasus: Govt should heed SC

The Union government has been non-committal and equivocal to the allegations of snooping on citizens, including political leaders, jurists and journalists, using Israeli military spyware Pegasus ever since they appeared in international and domestic media. The ministry of electronics and information technology first told Parliament that it was impossible to spy on citizens using the software and told the Supreme Court the other day in an affidavit that the allegations were conjectures and surmises based on unsubstantiated media reports or incomplete or uncorroborated material.

The ministry’s reply was to a query by the court, which has been hearing a petition demanding an independent investigation into the allegation of spying, whether it spied on citizens. One many not miss the point that the government took care not to say a direct “yes” or “no” to the query. Instead, it offered to set up a panel of experts to examine the issue as public discussion on the topic would involve national security.

It is nobody’s case that they should put a spoke in the government’s wheels when it works to ensure national security; it’s a concern everybody shares. Equally, the government must be concerned about the privacy of citizens as it is a fundamental right in this country. It is incumbent on the government to ensure that neither of the goals is compromised. It is not a great idea for a democratically elected government to smother discussions on fundamental rights by throwing the veil of national security on them.

The decision of the Supreme Court on Tuesday to issue a pre-admission notice to the government in the case offers the latter a way out of the issue. It may seize the opportunity and volunteer an investigation that would satisfy the petitioners instead of leaving to the court, which has indicated it would consider options including setting up a panel on its own to inquire into the allegations in due course of time.