New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, August 18, refused to stay the notification issued by the West Bengal government, setting up an inquiry commission to investigate the revelations of the Pegasus Project.The commission is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and also has the former acting Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court, Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya.As part of the Pegasus Project international media consortium, including The Wire, has revealed that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential and successful targets for surveillance using the Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Those on the list include opposition politicians, activists, former Supreme Court judges, and several journalists.Since the reports were published, opposition political parties, including the Trinamool Congress which is in power in West Bengal, have been calling on the Union government to institute a judicial commission for investigation.On July 26, announcing the commission, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “We wanted the Centre to form a commission to look into Pegasus snooping, but the Union government is sitting idle.”The Supreme Court is hearing a bunch of petitions on the Pegasus allegations.On August 16, in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Union government said that it will set up a committee of experts to look into “all aspects” of the Pegasus spyware allegations without offering any other details on the committee.On Wednesday, the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana sought responses from the Union government and the West Bengal government and posted the matter for hearing on August 25.Advocate Saurabh Mishra, appearing for the petitioner, Global Village Foundation Public Trust, told the bench that they have challenged the notification issued by the Bengal government constituting the commission on the ground of jurisdiction.LiveLaw has reported that the bench, at this point remarked that the petitioner’s affidavit was “inconsistent.”“There’s some inconsistency in your affidavit. You say you want an inquiry, then you say committee is unconstitutional. In an affidavit, you must be consistent,” the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, remarked.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, called the Bengal government’s notification “unconstitutional”.The Supreme Court bench also suggested attaching the current petition with the nine writ petitions it is hearing on the Pegasus matter.When Mishra insisted on an interim stay order on the commission, the apex court turned him down.(With PTI inputs)Read The Wire’s coverage of the Pegasus Project here.
