The reluctance of the government to accede to the court monitored inquiry was evident from the mood of the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who stood firm by his two-page affidavit denying “all and any” allegations. Mehta said any revelation about any software allegedly used by government to counter terrorism would compromise national security.

Unfortunately the government was unwilling to relent notwithstanding the fact that the court made it clear that “none of us want to compromise the defence of the nation... but there are citizens, some of them persons of eminence, who have complained of hacking of their phones”.

The apex court has been seeking Modi government’s response on the petitions seeking a court-monitored inquiry into the matter. But so far it has been evading it though it was caught on wrong side on some occasion.

On August 9 the defence ministry informed the Parliament that it had not entered into any kind of sale or purchase relation with the NSO in the matter of Pegasus. In sharp contrast to its stand in Parliament the Modi government today refused to share any information. It obviously implied that the government was pursuing to divergent line. While the Supreme Court is busy pursuing the issue cautiously the government has adopted a stubborn attitude and in the process getting exposed. In Parliament the government had described the opposition demand for debate and inquiry as a conspiracy against the Modi government. While France, Morocco and Israel have ordered for inquiry into the scandal, Modi government refused to have any inquiry.

Even on Tuesday the government refused to give fresh additional affidavit as according to it submission of any fresh affidavit was related to the national security. The most surprising has been government’s offer to have it investigated by a group of experts. Astonishingly it would not jeopardise the national security. The government outside the house continued to maintain an ambivalent stand. Last month, there were reports in the media that said that the central government allegedly got the Israeli spyware Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.

As on previous occasion the Modi government tried to club the Pegasus issue with nationalism by saying that national security was involved in it. The government desperately tried to evade the basic question whether it has ordered Pegasus surveillance though the Supreme Court said that it does not want to force the government to disclose any information related to national security, but it wants to know whether orders were given for alleged surveillance of common people. 11 petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court on the Pegasus case.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta simply said that government and the army use various types of software to keep anti-national and extremist activities under control. It is beyond imagination why the government was hell bent on concealing the facts. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that the government is ready to place all the facts before a technical committee consisting of neutral and independent experts.

Meanwhile former RSS ideologue K.N. Govindacharya has asked the Supreme Court to revive his 2019 petition seeking court-monitored investigation into the Pegasus spyware and lodging of FIR against those who are involved in the “illegal surveillance”. Seeking a revival of his case, he said his was the first petition filed when the Pegasus snooping allegations came to the fore.

He tore apart the claim of the government that human rights have not been infringed. He said; “The targeted nature of Pegasus has caused huge fear in the minds of the public. This illegal surveillance presents the biggest threat to life and personal liberty... A fair, impartial and responsible investigation is required to ascertain the magnitude of the use of Pegasus in India, and the entities responsible for the same,”

True speaking it was the reluctance of the government to reply to the Supreme Court’s queries that made the bench issue the notice. It was manifest in the observation of the CJI Ramana; "This is all before the stage of admission. We had thought a comprehensive reply will come but it was a limited reply. We will see, we will also think and consider what can be done". The court had even asked Mehta whether the Centre is willing to file an affidavit clarifying whether it purchased and used Pegasus or not. But his reply was non committal; "My submission is that whatever we submitted in the last affidavit covers the case".

Modi government’s reluctance to agree to an independent probe into the Pegasus snooping speaks more loud and exposes the conspiracy in an immaculate manner than its posturing that disclosing anything might compromise national security. From the beginning the Modi government has been desperately trying to deny its involvement, but its submission before the apex court that disclosing the operation of snooping would compromise the national security obliquely confirms its involvement in the scandal.

Modi government has indirectly confessed to the apex court that it has been involved in the obnoxious design of spying on the intellectuals, academics, journalists, judges and politicians of the country who were perceived to be anti-Modi. Else there was no rationale in saying that disclosure would endanger the security of the country.

This confession underlines that it has come to realise that it can no more hide behind the veneer of countenance of ignorance. Earlier it lied to the people by denying that it did not have any information about the snooping, now after the matter has reached to the Supreme Court it is busy creating confusion and mislead the court.

The government which so far has been in denial mood has even agreed to constitute a committee of experts to examine all the aspect and submit its report before the top court. This sudden change of heart of Modi has been quite intriguing. Even a layman knows that nothing moves in Modi’s New India, without his permission. Obviously one can infer that the offer to the court has come from him. Really disgraceful he has been keeping the people in dark and fooling them.

Strange enough the government can place the national interest in the hands of some handpicked individuals who it claims are the experts. But it is not willing to take the people of the country into confidence and venture to smear the image of some people. The observation of the government that it will not tell anything to anyone and that they do not wish to say this publicly is really vague and mysterious. It is not clear what they intend to say.

The NSO is supposed to provide the equipment only to a government to eradicate terrorists and their activities. Under the rules of the company it cannot be applied on a common law abiding citizen. But Modi and his aides have been using to keep watch on the people who are on their hit list. Modi and his lieutenants are aware that any judicial probe would not inflict any kind of damage to the security of the country. Instead it would clear the polity of the weeds. It would strengthen the democratic and Constitutional ethos of the country. In this backdrop it is really intriguing why they are not agreeable for a judicial probe. (IPA Service)