Pegasus spyware case: Snooping charges serious if true, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre’s response on a batch of petitions seeking independent probe into use of Israel’s Pegasus spyware to snoop into phones of eminent people, including politicians and members of judiciary. It said, “Allegations of snooping are serious if the reports regarding it are correct.”

A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and justice Surya Kant said it was not going into the facts of each case and if some people claimed that their phones were intercepted, then there is the Telegraph Act under which complaints can be filed. “No doubt, the allegations are serious if the newspaper reports are true,” the CJI said, but wondered why no serious concern was shown when such charges came to light first in May 2019.