Over 500 citizens from various walks of life on Thursday addressed an open letter to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana seeking the immediate intervention of the Supreme Court to demand answers from the Centre on the Pegasus controversy.
The joint letter said the alleged snooping on judges, political leaders, journalists, activists and others with the help of the Israeli spyware was a serious assault on citizens’ fundamental right to privacy, life and liberty. The letter also asked several questions.
The letter has asked the following questions:
⚫ Did any Indian entity purchase Pegasus, the Israeli spyware that only the government or government-linked agencies can buy?
⚫ If so, which entity bought the software? How was it paid for?
⚫ If it was indeed purchased, how were the targets for hacking chosen and what use was made of the information so gained?
⚫ What were the admissible justifications for such targeting, and before which constitutional authority were they presented?
⚫ Which constitutional authority oversaw or reviewed the criminal violation of the privacy of so many individuals, including journalists, politicians, lawyers, human rights activists and academics (and the SC staffer and her family members), so that they came to be on the list of Pegasus targets?
The signatories include crusaders for democratic freedom Aruna Roy and Anjali Bhardwaj; human rights activists Kavita Srivastava, Teesta Setalvad and Harsh Mander; lawyers Vrinda Grover and Kalpana Kannabiran; scholars Jhuma Sen, Aparna Chandra and Pratiksha Baxi; academics and scientists Zoya Hasan, Niraja Gopal Jayal, Utsa Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, Rosemary Dzivuchu, Romila Thapar, Sukanta Chaudhuri and Ram Ramaswamy; writers Arundhati Roy, V. Geetha, Githa Hariharan and Amit Chaudhuri; musicians and artistes T.M. Krishna, Pushpamala N, Prem Chandavarkar and Vivian Sundaram; politicians Kavita Krishnan and Manoj Jha; and journalists Anuradha Bhasin, Patricia Mukhim and John Dayal.
The signatories requested the Supreme Court to adopt a gender-just sexual harassment policy and data protection and privacy framework that would shield people from such cyber warfare and safeguard the independence of the judiciary.
Source: The Telegraph Online
