No beating around the bush, did Govt use Pegasus illegally: Supreme Court

Telling the Centre to stop “beating around the bush” on why it does not want to file an additional affidavit into allegations of unauthorised surveillance using the Pegasus software, the Supreme Court said Monday it only wanted to know “whether this software has been used by the government, by any method other than permissible under the law”.

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, heading a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta: “We are again reiterating that we are not interested in any manner or in any way to know the issues which are concerned about the security or the defence or any other national interest issue. We are only concerned, in the face of allegations that some software was used against some particular citizens, journalists, lawyers etc, to know whether this software has been used by the government, by any method other than permissible under the law.”