Supreme Court will pronounce its order on Wednesday on a batch of petitions seeking independent court-monitored probe into Pegasus spyware case.
On September 23, Supreme Court said it intends to set up a technical expert committee to probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.
The apex court's observations on constituting the committee assume significance in view of the Centre's statement that it would set up an expert panel on its own to look into the grievances of the alleged surveillance of certain eminent Indians by hacking their phones using Israeli firm NSO's spyware, Pegasus.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli had reserved order on September 13, saying it only wanted to know whether or not the Centre used the Pegasus spyware through illegal methods to allegedly snoop on citizens. Citing national security, the Centre had refused to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
The pleas seeking an independent probe are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO's spyware Pegasus.
An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
