Manohar Lal Sharma vs Union of India and Ors.

Court

Supreme Court of India

Date

27 October 2021

Case No.

Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 314 of 2021

Bench

N.V. Ramana, Surya Kant, Hima Kohli

Citation

[2021] 6 S.C.R. 1066 : 2021 INSC 682

Headnote

Cyber attack: Pegasus suite of spywares – Allegation of cyber attack on citizens of India/infiltration of software into individual device – Petitioners seeking independent investigation into the allegations – Held: Every citizen of India ought to be protected against the violations of privacy – Right to privacy is directly infringed when there is surveillance or spying done on an individual, either by the State or by any external agency – Of course, if done by State, the same must be justified on constitutional grounds – In the instant matter, time was granted to Union of India to place on record facts pertaining to the events highlighted by the petitioners – Despite repeated assurances and opportunities given, the respondent-Union of India placed on record only a “limited affidavit” which did not shed any light on their stand or provide any clarity as to the facts of the matter at hand – Such a course of action taken by the respondent-Union of India especially in proceedings of the present nature which touches upon the fundamental rights of the citizens of the country is not accepted – Complaint of petitioners is about the misuse or likely misuse of spyware in violations of the right to privacy of citizens – Apprehension of the respondent-Union of India is that any inquiry in this behalf should not jeopardize national security and the steps taken by it to protect national security – There is, thus, a broad consensus that unauthorized surveillance/accessing of stored data from the phones and other devices of citizens for reasons other than nation’s security would be illegal, objectionable and a matter of concern – Petitioners had placed certain material that prima facie merit consideration by this Court – There was no specific denial by Union of India of any of the facts averred by the petitioner – Omnibus and vague denial in the “limited affidavit” is not found sufficient – Prima facie case of petitioners accepted to examine the allegations made – A Technical Committee is constituted comprising of three members, including experts in cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware whose functioning would be overseen by a retired Judge of Supreme Court – The Committee is requested to prepare a report after thorough inquiry and place it before this court expeditiously – Matter to be listed after eight weeks.

The Order of the Court was passed : ORDER The Court is convened through Video Conferencing. “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” -George Orwell, 1984 1. The present batch of Writ Petitions raise an Orwellian concern, about the alleged possibility of utilizing modern technology to hear what you hear, see what you see and to know what you do. In this context, this Court is called upon to examine an allegation of the use of such a technology, its utility, need and alleged abuse. We make it clear that our effort is to uphold the constitutional aspirations and ru

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