Snoopgate: Supreme Court sets up panel to probe Pegasus use

Stating that the state doesn’t have absolute power to snoop into the ‘sacred private space’ of individuals, and it can’t get a free pass every time in the name of ‘national security’, the Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member technical committee overseen by its former judge Justice RV Raveendran to conduct a thorough enquiry into allegations that the Centre used Israeli software Pegasus to spy on a group of its citizens, including prominent journalists, activists and politicians.

The panel would also make recommendations regarding new surveillance laws/procedures or changes in the extant ones and the legal options to buttress the right to privacy, the court said in a 46-page judgment.