Snehal Upadhyay-
Published on August 03, 2021, at 4:22 PM
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) has approached the Supreme Court by filing a writ petition seeking a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the reports of state surveillance of journalists, activists and politicians using the Israeli spyware Pegasus.
The EGI mentions in its plea, “Freedom of the press relies on non-interference by the government and its agencies in reporting of journalists, including their ability to securely and confidentially speaking with sources, investigate abuse of power and corruption, expose governmental incompetence, and speak with those in opposition to the government.”
The petition further seeks the Court to issue direction on the Central Government to reveal details of contracts that were entered with the foreign companies to avail spyware for surveillance and details about the persons against whom such spyware was used.
The constitutional bench led by the Chief Justice of India N.V Ramana will consider seeking a judicial probe or not into the controversy on August 5.
Five Journalists who are suspected to be on the Pegasus snoop list have also filed writ petitions separately in the Apex Court claiming to have a proper investigation in the issue.
Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas and Advocate ML Sharma have also filed PILs with similar demands.
Also Read: Supreme Court to hear Pegasus Scandal Case next week