Pegasus: SC constitutes panel to look into snooping allegations

The State would not get a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised, the Supreme Court declared on Wednesday and constituted a committee headed by a former judge to look into all the questions swirling around the Pegasus spyware controversy that the Narendra Modi government has been stonewalling.

Former Supreme Court judge Justice R.V. Raveendran will head the six-member committee that includes technical experts. The panel has been preliminarily given two months to submit its report to the court.

The terms of reference cover questions such as whether the Centre or any state government had acquired the Israeli spyware that can be bought only by State-run agencies.