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Editors Guild moves Supreme Court, seeks SIT probe on Pegasus scandal

In its petition, the Editors Guild underlined that freedom of the press relied on non-interference by the government and its agencies.

Editors Guild moves Supreme court over Pegasus scandal-VPN
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New Delhi, First Published Aug 3, 2021, 2:11 PM IST

The Editors Guild of India has moved the Supreme Court seeking a probe by a Special Investigation Team into the Pegasus snooping row.

In its petition, the Editors Guild underlined that freedom of the press relied on non-interference by the government and its agencies.

The plea sought directions to be issued to the Narendra Modi government to produce the orders that authorised the surveillance of electronic devices of journalists under the relevant law. The EGI also sought the details to be brought before the court of contracts entered into with foreign companies for deploying the spyware on devices of "persons of interests".

READ: Do you know how much it costs to infiltrate and deploy Pegasus on a phone?

Highlighting the parliamentary disruptions, the Editors Guild noted that attempts to seek accountability had so far been stonewalled.

Their petition also wants the Centre to disclose details of people who have been placed under electronic surveillance or have been spied on.

The EGI plea comes days after similar petitions were filed by advocate ML Sharma, journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas.

READ: Pegasus Spyware: What is a zero-click attack & how to evade it?

The media body has in the past condemned claims of surveillance allegedly mounted by government agencies on journalists, civil society activists, businessmen and politicians, using the spyware created by Israeli surveillance firm NSO. 

The reports, which were published worldwide by a consortium of 17 publications, pointed towards surveillance by multiple governments across the world. 

NSO's claims that it only sells this software to "vetted" governments clients, suspicions of involvement of Indian government agencies in snooping on its own citizens have only deepened.

READ: How does the Pegasus spyware work?

In its statement after the Pegasus scandal broke out, the Editors Guild had stated that the act of snooping essentially conveys that journalism and political dissent are now equated with 'terror'. 

"How can a constitutional democracy survive if governments do not make an effort to protect freedom of speech and allows surveillance with such impunity," the Editors Guild had asked.

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