New Delhi, August 03, 2021 (PPI-OT):In India, five journalists, under surveillance through Pegasus software, have moved Supreme Court for a judicial oversight mechanism to be set up to deal with complaints as their fundamental rights, primarily of privacy, and dignity, were violated.

The journalists who moved the apex court include Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, S.N.M. Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shataksi. They said that they were subjected to deeply intrusive surveillance and a forensic examination done by Amnesty International on mobile phones revealed traces of interference.

They said their fundamental rights, primarily of privacy, and dignity, were violated by the snooping. A bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana is scheduled to hear on August 5 three petitions, including one filed jointly by senior journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, seeking an independent probe headed by a retired or sitting Supreme Court judge into the Pegasus allegations.

Mr. Ram’s petition has asked the court to direct the government to come clean on whether the surveillance was done with the government’s knowledge or not. The five journalists have, in their turn, asked the court to direct the government to produce records or documents to show that it had in any way authorised the snooping of private citizens, journalists, activists and even its own Ministers.

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