No Pegasus Spyware Found In 29 Phones Examined By Supreme Court Panel

A Supreme Court appointed committee tasked to investigate into the allegations of use of Pegasus spyware by the Central government has concluded that the presence of controversial Israeli spyware was not conclusively established in the 29 mobile phones examined by it.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, after examining a voluminous report submitted by the three-member expert committee, noted that the panel also found some kind of malware in five mobile phones out of the 29 examined.

"We are concerned about technical committee 29 phones were given... in 5 phones some malware was found but the technical committee says it cannot be said to be Pegasus. They say it cannot be said to be Pegasus," the bench remarked, reports Bar and Bench.

The panel headed by former Supreme Court Justice RV Raveendran had submitted its report to the Apex Court in July this year.

The committee was formed after allegations that the spyware was used to target nearly 300 Indians, including politicians, government servants, journalists and people from other walks of life.

The committee also comprised Alok Joshi (former IPS Officer) and Dr. Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in (International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee).

The report also says there are certain malwares which could be misused and cause security concern as well as violate privacy of citizens. It suggests measures to prevent misuse of malware for surveillance, reports Times of India.

The SC bench also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said the panel has submitted its “lengthy” report in three parts and one part suggested amending the law to protect the right to privacy of citizens and ensure cyber security of the nation.