Pegasus Row: Sc Asks West Bengal to Show Restraint on Judicial Inquiry, May Pass Comprehensive Order Next Week

(Judicial Quest News Network)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the West Bengal Government to show restraint in the relation to the state’s judicial inquiry into the allegations of surveillance against the government using the Pegasus spyware.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice NV Ramana said this while hearing a plea challenging the decision of the West Bengal government to set up of a two-member commission of inquiry headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Madan B Lokur to probe into the allegations surrounding the use of Pegasus by Government of India.

The Plea file by Global India Foundation Public Charitable Trust through Advocate-on-Record Saurabh Mishra has challenged the decision of Mamta Banerjee government to probe the Pegasus by way of a Judicial Commission.

The Court, however, did not pass an order to stop the functioning of the state’s investigation commission that has been set up to carry out an inquiry.

Senior Advocate Harish Salve,  appearing for the petitioner, submitted the three cannot be a parallel inquiry when the Supreme Court is considering the matter. He argued the notification was beyond the competence of the State Government as issues relating to the information technology Act fell with the domain of the Union Government.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the West Bengal government, initially opposed the same, the CJI told him. “When we are hearing other matters, we expect some restraint. The present issue is being connected to other issues. It will have a bearing on it. In all fairness, we expect you to wait.

“This is likely to have pan India Impact”, Justice Surya Kant added.

When Dr, Singhvi urged the bench to not to pass any order, the CJI responded, “Mr. Singhvi, you don’t listen to us. We are saying that next week we will hear. We will pass a comprehensive order, In the meanwhile, if you start an enquiry, we will have to pass an order.

Dr. Singhvi questioned the locus of the petitioner and alleged that it has political affiliations. He argued that the court should not pass a statutory notification at the instance of an NGO whose motives were not clear.

“Between now and next week nothing earth shattering is going to happen. Any word from your lordship will create a splash. Sanghvi submitted.

“You are forcing us to pass order. What we want is wait, show constraint”. The CJI said.

Singhvi agreed to convey the message to the State Government and requested the bench to say nothing in the order.

Salve satisfied on this assurance given by the Singhvi.

At the end the bench passed a simple order of issuing notice in the petition and tagging it along with the other Pegasus matters.

In a related development, the State of West Bengal filed its counter-affidavit in the matter today, saying that it was constrained to constitute the commission due to the inaction of the Central Government in the Pegasus issue.

On July26, West Bengal Government constituted an Inquiry Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur and former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya to investigate into the allegations pertaining to the Pegasus spyware scandal. A notification to this effect was issued on Monday by B.P Gopalika, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of West Bengal.

The Development came days after it was revealed that the Chief Minister’s Nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee was allegedly snooped on by the Pegasus spyware during the time of the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021.

The notification issued noted that mobile telephones of various public officials, politicians, journalists, members of the judiciary amongst others had been illegally hacked into using the surveillance since 2017 resulting in the potential breach of state Secrets and privacy of the individual concerned.

The notification also expressed concerns regarding the alleged interference with the rights of Journalists to discuss and report sensitive information and expression. It was also opined that the alleged interception, if found to be true, would cause a complete demoralization of Police force and other security services in West Bengal.

Some of the functions of the constituted inquiry commission are as follows

1. To enquire into whether any incidents of reported interception have occurred.
2. To enquire into the events leading to the occurrences of the incidents of interception of the aforesaid category of individuals and the information that has been collected.
3. To enquire into the events leading to the occurrence of the incidents of interception of the aforesaid category of individuals and information’s that has been collected, altered. Stored pertaining to such interception.
4. To investigate into the circumstances including provocations, investigations, from any person/group of persons, if any. Leading to the reported interception.
5. To enquire into the role of other authorities/State/non-State actors in such interceptions.
6. If such reported interception is found to be true, to enquire into whether State/non-State actors can, without any express legal provision or judicial oversight carry out the reported interception.
7.  The commission has been instructed to submit to the State Government its report containing the findings and recommendations within a period of 6 months from the date of the notification. Further autonomy has been given to the Commission to devise its own procedure of investigation and also serve notice to the concerned persons as and when required.

Supreme Court on August 17, issued notice before admission to the Central Government in a batch of petitions seeking probe into the Pegasus snooping controversy.