Form of words:
New Delhi: Terming as Orwellian the petitions seeking an independent probe into the alleged Pegasus espionage controversy, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Wednesday appointed an expert committee to probe the allegations.
The three-member technical committee will be supervised by a panel headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran and constituted of experts from various fields such as digital forensics, cyber security, networks and hardware.
The top court, while pronouncing the order, said that its endeavor is to uphold the constitutional aspirations and the rule of law without indulging in “political rhetoric”.
Emphasizing on the need to investigate the allegations, the court said, “Merely calling for national security by the state does not make the court a mute spectator.”
Bench quoted the English novelist George Orwell as saying, “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”
The top court asked the committee to “prepare the report after thorough investigation and place it before the court at the earliest”.
The bench is scheduled to hear the matter after eight weeks.
Read the full order of the Supreme Court order here:
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