NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana pronounced on Thursday that 29 phones were examined and malware was found in five of them, but there is no conclusive evident of Pegasus spyware. The committee informed the apex court that the Indian government did not cooperate in its investigation. “The Centre has not cooperated,” the report said.
It said that a portion of the report would be made available online via the Supreme Court's website. The CJI voiced, "We will be making the third part of the report by Justice Raveendran on recommendations public on our website," adding that the committee had requested that the whole report not be made available to the general public.
A copy of the report's first two portions was requested by some of the petitioners. The court will review the demand, said the CJI. Without reading the entire report, we don't want to make any further comments, Justice Ramana stated. When one advocate indicated he wanted to voice his opinions, CJI responded lightheartedly, "After tomorrow, I will also speak my opinion." The case was postponed for a month.
The news that the spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group was being used to target people all over the world sparked a major political uproar, and the Supreme Court established the expert committee to investigate whether Indian law enforcement agencies had acquired and utilised Pegasus.
The team, which included three experts in digital forensics, networks, and hardware, was tasked with "inquiring, investigating, and determining" if Pegasus malware was used to snoop on people. Former Supreme Court judge Raveendran was to oversee the panel's investigation.
SC committee not found evidence of espionage from Pegasus?
Delhi HC to promulgate order on pleas by WhatsApp, Facebook today
SC to hear freebie case again today, know what CJI said?