Appeal to CJI to allow live streaming of Pegasus hearings

In a letter to the Chief Justice of India, the Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms and a group of Right to Information activists have requested him allow live streaming of the hearings on the Pegasus spyware case.

Hyderabad: The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) and a group of activists representing the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information have appealed to the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to allow live streaming of the hearings on the Israeli spyware Pegasus case.

In a letter to Justice Ramana dated August 9, CJAR and the group of activists said that there has been deep concern regarding the recent revelations that the Pegasus software was used to hack into the phones of Indian citizens, apparently at the behest of the Indian government.

“NSO, the Israeli group that developed the software, claims that it sells Pegasus only to 'vetted governments',” the letter highlighted. “Deployment of the Pegasus software has been established through cyber forensic analysis of some of the targeted phones by internationally reputed labs. Such large-scale intrusive surveillance into the phones belonging to constitutional authorities, political leaders, journalists and activists, apart from being a violation of people’s fundamental right to privacy, is a frontal attack on our democracy.”

Last month, a huge controversy broke out in India after media reports of a a leaked database of thousands of telephone numbers, believed to have been listed by multiple government clients of Israeli surveillance technology firm NSO. These included over 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers, including those used by ministers, opposition leaders, journalists, the legal community, businessmen, government officials, scientists, rights activists and others.

While the Opposition disrupted the proceedings of the Monsoon Session of Parliament demanding that the government institute a thorough investigation into the matter, a bunch of pleas seeking an SIT probe into the matter have been filed in the Supreme Court by the Editors Guild, senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar and personalities like Professor Jagdeep Chokar. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing of these pleas till August 16.

In their letter, CJAR and the Right to Information activists stated that investigations by the media reveal that phone numbers belonging to a judge of the Supreme Court, registrars of the apex court and the woman staffer (and her family members) who had accused a former Chief Justice of India of sexual harassment were potentially hacked.

“These revelations point to a grave threat to the independence of the judiciary,” it stated.

“An Election Commissioner of India, leaders of opposition parties, senior journalists and activists figuring prominently in the list of people allegedly surveilled before the 2019 general elections, indicate a deep subversion of electoral democracy.”

The letter referred to the 2018 Swapnil Tripathi vs Supreme Court of India judgement wherein the top court had ruled that proceedings of cases before it of constitutional and national importance should be broadcast to the public.

It also mentioned that “there has been significant progress in the last few years with at least some High Courts – Gujarat, Karnataka, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh – currently live-streaming their proceedings on YouTube via their official channels, which also allows the live-stream to be subsequently available as a recording”.

The letter also referred to Justice Ramana's speech at the inauguration of the live-streaming of proceedings of the Gujarat High Court during which he said: “It is high time for demystifying the justice delivery system in the country and furthering access through open courts. will become a true reality when litigants and interested parties get to witness, understand and a true reality when litigants and interested parties get to witness, understand and comprehend justice dispensation firsthand…It is only on the back of an informed citizenry that a representative democracy can survive and evolve.”

It concluded with an earnest request to the Chief Justice of India “to initiate live-streaming of proceedings of the Supreme Court in matters of public importance, starting with the Pegasus case”.