Rupesh Kumar Singh, a freelance journalist based in Jharkhand whose phone number and the numbers of his two family members figure in the leaked list of potential targets of surveillance by the Israeli firm NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court praying that the installation and use of such software should be declared illegal and unconstitutional.
Rupesh, 36, based in Ramgarh district, whose phone number along with that of his wife and sister-in-law feature in the leaked database, filed the writ petition in the Supreme Court on Saturday under Article 32 claiming that the installation and use of malware or spyware such as Pegasus is ultra vires of Part III of the Constitution.
“I have also prayed to the Supreme Court to issue a direction/order or writ directing the respondents (Union ministries of electronics and information technology and home ministry) to produce and disclose to the honourable court all materials and documents with respect to all investigation, authorisation and orders pertaining to the use of Pegasus on my phone,” said Rupesh.
The petitioner has asked the court to issue a direction/order or writ directing the Union government to take suitable steps to protect citizens from the use of cyber weapons/malware such as Pegasus and also put in place a judicial oversight mechanism to deal with any complaint on illegal breaches of privacy and hacking and punish all government officials allegedly responsible for such breaches.
“I and my wife have filed a petition as my right to privacy and that of my wife and my sister-in-law, which the Supreme Court has termed as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, has been breached,” said Rupesh, who was released after spending six months in a Bihar jail on “fabricated” charges of being a Maoist.
Rupesh has alleged that he was targeted by the Union government for his reports on violence by security forces against Adivasis. He claims this happened more after a report about a tribal man, Motilal Baskey, of Giridih district, whom the security forces claimed to be a Maoist carrying a reward of Rs 10 lakh. Baskey was killed by the CRPF in an encounter in June 2017.
“But when I started investigating, I found that Baskey was a porter ferrying pilgrims to the Parasnath Hills. There was a massive protest on the issue by Opposition party leaders (Raghubar Das-led BJP government was in power in 2017), including current chief minister Hemant Soren and now BJP leader Babulal Marandi (who was then the JVM chief),” said Rupesh, a native of Bhagalpur in Bihar.
“I think all these reports made me the target not merely of surveillance by Pegasus software but also led to my arrest in June 2019 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) after security forces planted gelatin sticks and detonators in front of my eyes in my car,” Rupesh alleged.
He was released on bail in December 2019 from the Gaya jail after Bihar police failed to file a chargesheet in the case even after the stipulated 180 days lapsed since the filing of the complaint.
