New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that there is no objection to the government possessing or using spyware for safeguarding national security, but emphasized that the critical issue lies in its deployment and potential misuse.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while hearing a batch of petitions filed in 2021. The petitions had called for an independent investigation into allegations of surveillance using the Israeli spyware Pegasus, reportedly targeting journalists, activists, and opposition leaders.
“There is nothing wrong if the country possesses spyware. The real question is against whom it is used,” said Justice Kant, stressing that national security cannot be compromised. The bench underscored the need to distinguish between legitimate use for national defense and unlawful intrusion into the privacy of individuals.
The observation came in response to arguments by Senior Advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, who highlighted concerns over the government’s potential deployment of Pegasus against citizens.
The top court noted that while the presence of surveillance tools in the government’s arsenal is not inherently problematic, allegations of such tools being used to target private individuals without accountability will continue to be examined.
