Pegasus case: Govindacharya asks Supreme Court to revive his 2019 petition

The former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue sought a court-monitored investigation and lodging of FIR against Facebook, WhatsApp, NSO Group and others involved in the ‘illegal surveillance’.

Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue K.N. Govindacharya has asked the Supreme Court to revive his 2019 petition seeking court-monitored investigation into the Pegasus spyware and lodging of FIR against Facebook, WhatsApp, NSO Group and others involved in the “illegal surveillance”. Mr. Govindacharya said the Pegasus surveillance amounted to “cyber terrorism” and was punishable under the Information Technology Act. He said the entities involved should be brought to book for violating the privacy and personal liberty of citizens. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana is scheduled to hear 10 petitions, including one filed by senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, who are also seeking a direction from the court to direct the Centre to come clean on whether it had used the military-grade Pegasus technology, created by the Israeli-based NSO Group, to spy on dissenters, activists, parliamentarians, Ministers, lawyers and journalists.