Connect with us before January 7: SC panel tells Pegasus victims

The panel of three members headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran, issued a public notice which read that people who suspect their mobiles were attacked using the Pegasus spyware and wish to cooperate with the investigation can now approach the Supreme Court.

Team Newsable

New Delhi, First Published Jan 2, 2022, 5:51 PM IST | Last Updated Jan 2, 2022, 5:51 PM IST

The Supreme Court-appointed committee to probe into the controversial Israel spyware Pegasus issued a public notice on Sunday. The public notice released by the committee read that people who suspect their mobiles were attacked using the Pegasus spyware and wish to cooperate with the investigation can now approach the Supreme Court.

The panel of three members headed by the former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran, nominated by the Supreme Court in October, last year, has issued a public notice, and the deadline set is January 7.

The Pegasus spyware caused a huge storm in the House, triggering many minds to look into the privacy law. The spyware was believed to target many VIPs in the country as opposition leaders/ politicians, journalists, constitutional post-holders, and many more. The prominent names were Rahul Gandhi, Ashok Lavasa, Anil Ambani, Abhishek Banerjee, and other citizens.

The technical committee has asked people who have "reasonable cause to suspect" that their mobile has been compromised due to "specific usage" of the software to connect them.

The complainant should answer the panel "reason as to why you believe your device may have been infected with Pegasus malware." People approaching the panel should allow the technical committee to investigate the device.

People who feel they were victims of the spyware should send an email to the committee at inquiry@pegasus-india-investigation.in before noon of January 7. The committee said, "In case the committee feels your reasons for suspicion of the device being infected with the malware compel a further investigation, then the committee shall request you to allow examination of your device."

The notice further added that the committee would provide an acknowledgment for having received the device and also provide the complainant with the device's digital image. The assemblage would be in New Delhi, and the devices would be dropped back post completing the investigation.

The apex court had formed the panel to examine whether the Central government is responsible for the use of Pegasus spyware to snoop on its citizens, stating the government cannot get a "free pass" always in the shade of "national security".

The panel includes National Forensic Sciences University's dean Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Amrita Vishwa Vidhyapeetham's Professor Prabahara P, and IIT-Bombay Professor Ashwin Anil Gumaste.

In November, the committee asked the petitioners who approached the Supreme Court on the Pegasus spyware controversy to present their targeted mobiles for investigation. The Supreme Court ordered when the Modi government ignored requests for investigations by the oppositions and activists, and when a whistleblower broke the news, providing data of the possible spying of the opposition leaders, constitutional authorities, businessmen, paramilitary officers, lawyers, and activists, among others.