Refrain from social media debates on Pegasus case: Supreme Court asks parties

On Tuesday, Supreme Court has instructed all the petitioners and parties seeking an investigation into the Pegasus spyware row to stop participating in “parallel debates on the social media”. The apex court asked the parties to “have faith in the system”. 

Supreme Court’s three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said, “Nobody should cross the limit and all will be given the opportunity in the case. We are not against debates but when the matter is in court, it should be deliberated here.”

The bench also asked parties to use proper debate in court for answering to queries and not outside. The following hearing on Pegasus petitions has been postponed to next Monday after the government representing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought more time from the court. 

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal is representing senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, who have filed one of the petitions. Sibal said that Ram was trolled on the social media platforms post last hearing on the case. The bench replied, “This is what we are saying. We ask questions from parties. We take both parties to the task. The matter should be deliberated here and it should not be debated on social media and websites. Parties should have faith in the system.”

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During the last hearing on August 5, Supreme Court had asked the parties to provide it with their petitions copies and to the government counsel, post which the matter would be heard in the court again. “No doubt, the allegations are serious, if the reports are true,” the bench observed last week.

Currently, three petitions are before the court regarding the Pegasus case. One is filed by senior journalists N Ram and Shashi Kumar, the second by advocate M L Sharma and the third one by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas. 

Ram and Kumar have sought a probe by a former or sitting judge of the Supreme Court into allegations regarding the Pegasus case. In their plea, the dup has said that such “targeted surveillance” using “military-grade spyware” is a “grossly disproportionate invasion of the right to privacy”.