NEW DELHI, Aug 2 The West Bengal government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the two-member Madan B Lokur panel appointed by it to probe into the alleged snooping on some residents of the state using the Israeli spyware Pegasus would not proceed till the apex court disposed of the matter.
The state government submitted before the Supreme Court that it had acted within its legal authority to appoint the commission since the Central government did not find it necessary to launch its own probe.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, said it was likely to pass a comprehensive order on a batch of petitions related to the Pegasus scandal by next week. “We are saying that next week we will pass a comprehensive order. In the meantime, if you start an enquiry, we will have to pass an order,” the Court had told the West Bengal government on which it gave the assurance that the Lokur panel would not proceed till the apex court heard petitions seeking a probe into the alleged surveillance scandal as well as those challenging the state government’s decision to appoint the commission.
The state had set up the two-member Commission of Inquiry headed by the former Supreme Court judge and also comprises former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya, to probe the alleged surveillance of Indian citizens using the Israeli Pegasus spyware. However, a petition was then filed by NGO Global Village Foundation Public Charitable Trust for disbanding the said commission.
Last week, the Supreme Court issued notice on the plea to the Supreme Court had issued notices to the centre and the West Bengal government to quash the July 27 notification of the state government setting up the two-member panel to inquire into allegations of use of Pegasus spyware for illegal surveillance.
Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta termed the constitution of the committee “unconstitutional”. Stating that he would assist the bench on the point of constitutionality, he said, “It is unconstitutional is all I can say.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
