Month: August 2021

The Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant will hear pleas seeking a court-monitored probe into the reports of the government allegedly using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists, on August 5.

The pleas filed by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma are listed for hearing before a Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant on August 5.
The pleas seek inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate the alleged snooping.

The petition filed by the senior journalists sought a direction to the Centre to disclose if it or any of its agencies have used Pegasus Spyware either directly or indirectly to conduct surveillance in any manner.

“Direct the Government of India to disclose if the Government of India or any of its agencies have obtained license(s) for Pegasus spyware and/or used/employed it, either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance in any manner whatsoever. Issue direction of constituting an inquiry to investigate the extent of surveillance on Indian citizens using the Pegasus spyware and other entities responsible for it, headed by sitting or retired judge of this court duly nominated by this court,” stated the plea.

The plea said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case.

The targeted hacking/interception of inter alia journalists, doctors, lawyers, civil society activists, government ministers and opposition politicians seriously compromises the effective exercise of the fundamental right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), added the petition.

The petitioners have claimed that investigation involving several leading publications around the world has revealed that more than 142 Indians, including journalists, lawyers, government ministers, opposition politicians, constitutional functionaries and civil society activists, have been identified as “potential targets” for surveillance using Pegasus software.

Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) in his plea has sought a court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into reports of the government using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on people. The petition has said that despite the very serious nature of the allegations, the government has not cared to investigate the issue.

Advocate Sharma sought direction for an SIT probe on whether the Union government bought the Pegasus spyware following due procedure of law and whether and how it had been used since the purchase.

Sharma said that in the interest of justice and fair play and for the protection of the life and liberty of the citizens of India, the Supreme Court should pass a direction to set up an SIT under the supervision of this court for an investigation into the Pegasus scandal and to prosecute all accused persons/ ministers for buying Pegasus and snooping of the citizen of India, including judges, opposition leaders and political persons, activist, advocates and others. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian PM to preside over a meeting during New Delhi’s presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), said Syed Akbaruddin, India’s former envoy to UN, on Sunday.

Speaking to India, Former Permanent Representative of India to UN, Akkbarudin said that in over 75 years, this is the first time Indian political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the 15-member UN body and this depicts that the country’s leadership wants to lead from the front.
“Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister, who has decided to preside over a meeting of the United Nation Security Council. It shows that leadership wants to lead from the front. It also shows that India and its political leadership are invested in our foreign policy ventures,” Syed Akbaruddin, who is currently Dean of Kautilya School of Public Policy.

India on Sunday assumed the rotating presidency of the UNSC and will be hosting signature events related to maritime security, peacekeeping, and counterterrorism during the month.

Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla will also chair high-level meetings on topics of global importance.

“This is our eighth stint on the UNSC yet in the 75+years, this is the first time that our political leadership has invested in presiding over an event of the security council,” Akbaruddin said.

“Although this is a virtual meeting, it’s still a first meeting of the sort for us. It is historic. The last time an Indian PM was engaged in this effort was the then PM PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 when he attended a UNSC meeting,” he added.

India took over the presidency from France. Ambassador of India to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti thanked France Permanent Representative to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, for steering the UN Security Council for the month of July.

“India has just assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council on 1st August. India and France enjoy historical and close relations. I thank France for all the support which they’ve given us during our stint in the Security Council,” Tirumurti said in a video message.

During our presidency, India said it is organising three high-level signature meetings focussing on our priority areas–maritime security, peacekeeping, and counter-terrorism.

India will also be organising a solemn event in memory of peacekeepers.

Tirumurti apprised that the UN Security Council will also have on its agenda several important meetings including Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, and the Middle East.

Security Council will also be adopting important resolutions on Somalia, Mali, and UN Interim Force in Lebanon, he added.

This is India’s first presidency in the UNSC during its 2021-22 tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC. The two-year tenure of India as a non-permanent member of the UNSC began on January 1, 2021.

The first working day of India’s presidency will be on Monday, August 2 when Tirumurti will hold a hybrid press briefing in the UN headquarters on the Council’s programme of work for the month. (ANI)