Abhishek Singh Bhandari, Law Centre II, Faculty of Law, Delhi University
ABSTRACT
Pegasus spyware, named after a mythical winged horse from Greek mythology, although not divine in nature, yet, confers a god like power of being omniscient to the bearer. A leaked data revealed a list of phone numbers which were believed to be individuals of NSO’s client’s interest. Identification of some of the numbers appeared on the list was shocking as most of them belonged to journalists, social rights activists, lawyers, politicians. Profession of individuals whose name appeared on the leaked list and NSO’s statement of providing Pegasus spyware service only to governments indicates the government’s involvement in the alleged surveillance. Use of this spyware can lead to denial of the right to privacy and freedom of speech which are basic human need guaranteed by our Constitution. Thus, it is pertinent to question the legality of use Pegasus spyware for which deliberate study of The Telegraph Act and Information Technology is required. There are laws to direct the interception of messages in very specific circumstances under the Telegraph Act and Information Technology Act but not clear enough.
Another important question is what degree of impact it would have on the privacy and freedom of speech rights, psychology, and government-citizen relationship. Such incursion into the privacy of citizens by the government would only diminish the trust and faith of people in governmental institutions which could be extremely detrimental for democracy.
