Editors Guild files plea in SC seeking SIT investigation into Pegasus snooping matter
New Delhi, Aug 3: The Editors Guild of India has filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up to conduct probe into the reported surveillance of journalists and others allegedly by the government through the use Israeli firm NSO's Pegasus spyware.
The guild's petition has stated that journalists are tasked with enforcing the public's right to be informed, accountability and to an open and transparent government.
The guild's members and all journalists have the duty of holding all branches of government accountable by seeking information, explanations and constitutionally valid justifications for state action and inaction, it said.
To be able to fulfil this role, freedom of the press must be safeguarded, it said.
Journalist Mrinal Pande is a co-petitioner in the case.
Freedom of the press relies on non-interference by the government and its agencies in reporting of journalists, including their ability to securely and confidentially speaking with sources, investigate abuse of power and corruption, expose governmental incompetence, and speak with those in opposition to the government, the plea said.
The guild submitted that citizens of India have a right to know if the government is infringing upon the limits of their authority under the Constitution and what steps have been taken to safeguard their fundamental rights.
The plea stated that all attempts to seek accountability and enforce Constitutional limits through Parliamentary processes have been stonewalled.
Through their intransigence, the Respondents have deliberately avoided public debate on this issue and have provided obfuscated answers, forcing the Petitioner to approach this Court, the plea said.
The guild has sought a court-appointed and monitored SIT to investigate every aspect of the alleged use of Pegasus by the Government of India and against Indian citizens, especially journalists.
It has challenged the constitutional vires of electronic surveillance, hacking and use of spyware, and the existing legal architecture for surveillance, in light of the gigantic leaps in technology and surveillance capabilities.
On Monday, a senior journalist, whose name featured in the reported list of those who were targets of snooping using Pegasus, had moved the apex court seeking directions to the Centre to disclose materials with respect to investigation and authorisation pertaining to alleged use of Israeli spyware on his mobile.
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who said existence of Pegasus will have a tremendous chilling effect on the right to free speech in India, has urged the apex court to declare that use of malware or spyware is illegal and unconstitutional.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana is scheduled to hear on August 5 three separate pleas, including the one filed by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar who have sought an independent probe by a sitting or a retired judge into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.
An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO's Pegasus spyware.
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EC demands extra security as unrest grips Bangladesh afresh
Dhaka (PTI): The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'.
"The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday.
The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday.
The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle was currently in place for him. It asked for round-the-clock police escorts for the four commissioners and the senior secretary.
The letter said the enhanced security measures were "urgent and necessary," while EC officials said their 10 regional offices, 64 district election offices and 522 sub-district level offices would store important documents and election materials.
The EC on Thursday said the upcoming parliamentary election would be held on February 12 next year, while a day later, Sharif Osman Hadi was shot from a close range in the head, critically wounding him, as he initiated his election campaign from a constituency in the capital.
Critically ill former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) simultaneously asked Muhammad Yunus' government to provide security for all candidates in the upcoming election after the attack on Hadi, who leads a radical right-wing cultural group called Inquiab Mancha.
"We demand that the real culprit be identified immediately and brought under the law, and we call upon this government to ensure the security of all candidates without delay," BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.
Hadi was also a frontline leader of last year's student-led violent uprising that toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
His Inquilab Mancha was also at the forefront of a campaign to disband the Awami League, which the interim government complied with in May this year, disqualifying the party from contesting the polls.
The government on Saturday ordered a nationwide security clampdown called 'Operation Devil Hunt 2' amid escalated fears over the law and order situation and promised to issue firearms licenses for election candidates for their own security.
Home adviser (retd) Lieutenant General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the government had taken steps to ensure special security for the "frontline fighters" of the July Uprising and promised to issue firearms licenses for the election candidates.
He emphasised that the second phase of the 'Devil Hunt' was aimed at helping ensure public safety and combat the growing threat of illegal arms.
The operation was initially launched in February this year following protests over an attack on the private house of a former minister of the ousted government in the northern suburb of the capital, when it targeted alleged "henchmen" and supporters of the now disbanded Awami League.
