Pegasus probe: What exactly will SC-appointed expert panel do?

 The Supreme Court on Wednesday delivered a strong judgment in the Pegasus snooping matter and appointed an expert committee. The committee will probe the veracity of allegations of misuse of the spyware for surveillance of citizens in matters where “national security and national interest” are not involved.

“Right to privacy and freedom of speech are alleged to be impacted, which needs to be examined. The entire citizenry is affected by such allegations due to the potential chilling effect,” said the Supreme Court in its judgment.

The apex court said it has taken into account the public importance and the alleged scope and nature of the large-scale violation of the fundamental rights of citizens. It said there is a broad consensus that unauthorised surveillance and accessing of stored data from the phones and other devices of citizens for reasons other than the nation’s security would be “illegal, objectionable and a matter of concern”.

The apex court also expressed concern over the Centre not taking a “clear stand” on the issue of allegations of involvement of foreign parties and that the Union or state governments are party to the rights' deprivations of citizens.

It is in this spirit that the Supreme Court appointed the expert committee headed by retired apex court justice R.V. Raveendran. Raveendran will be assisted by Alok Joshi, former chief of the National Technical Research Organisation and R&AW, and Dr. Sundeep Oberoi, a cyber security expert and chairman of the International Organisation of Standardisation and International Electro-Technical Commission.

Interestingly, Joshi led the country's surveillance operations ahead of the 2016 surgical strikes in Pakistan and it is under his charge that the precision strikes were carried out. Now he has to probe whether the country’s surveillance technologies were used against its own citizens.

The expert committee will oversee a three-member technical committee, which has been given a seven-point charter of investigation on whether Pegasus spyware was used on phones or other devices of the citizens to access stored data, eavesdrop on conversations and intercept information for any other purposes not explicitly stated and gather details of the victims and persons affected by the spyware attack.

The technical committee consists of Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, professor (cyber security and digital forensics) and dean, National Forensic Sciences University in Gandhinagar in Gujarat; Dr. Prabaharan P., professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Amritapuri in Kerala, and Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor (computer science and engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

The committee will examine what steps have been taken by the government after reports were published in 2019 about hacking of WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens using Pegasus. It will also probe whether Pegasus was acquired by the Centre, any state government, or any Central or state agency for use against the citizens. This issue has been of primary concern among citizens, but the government has been tight-lipped about it even in Parliament.

The mandate of the expert panel also extends to probing whether any governmental agency was found using Pegasus and which law, rule, guideline, protocol or lawful procedure made such deployment possible for them.

Revelations of this nature have the potential of causing embarrassment to any Central or state intelligence agency that procures spyware technology.

The committee can ask domestic entities and persons if use of such spyware was authorised or not. The broad mandate of the expert panel is being questioned by spies and sleuths, who feel divulging such information can expose the country's preparedness to counter espionage and cyber attacks and expose its offensive capabilities.

While delivering the judgment, the Supreme Court said it was aware that different forms of surveillance and data gathering by intelligence agencies to fight terrorism, crime and corruption in national interest are accepted norms all over the world. But it explained that the complaint of the petitioners was about the misuse or likely misuse of spyware in violation of the right to privacy of citizens.

Declining the Centre's offer to appoint an expert committee to investigate the allegations, the apex court said the need of the hour was a unbiased probe.

''At this juncture, it would be appropriate to state that in this world of conflicts, it was an extremely uphill task to find and select experts who are free from prejudices, are independent and competent,” the court said. The apex court said, rather than relying upon any government agencies, it decided to short-list expert members, based on bio-datas and information collected independently.

''Some of the candidates politely declined this assignment, while others had some conflict of interest. With our best intentions and efforts, we have short-listed and chosen the most renowned experts available to be a part of the committee. Additionally, we have also left it to the discretion of the learned overseeing judge to take assistance from any expert, if necessary, to ensure absolute transparency and efficiency,” it said.

The expert panel has also been asked to give a list of recommendations on a broad range of subjects like steps needed to improve cyber security of the country and its assets, ensure prevention of invasion of citizens’ right to privacy and establishment of a mechanism for citizens to raise grievances on suspicion of illegal surveillance of their devices. It will also advise the government on setting up a well-equipped independent premier agency to investigate cyber security vulnerability, for threat assessment relating to cyber attacks and to investigate instances of cyber attacks in the country. The committee will prepare and submit its report to the apex court.