LexMANOHAR LAL SHARMA versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.
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A B C D E F G H 1066 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2021] 6 S.C.R. MANOHAR LAL SHARMA v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. (Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 314 of 2021) OCTOBER 27, 2021 [N. V. RAMANA, CJI, SURYA KANT AND HIMA KOHLI, JJ.] 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 [2021] 6 S.C.R. 1066 1066 A B C D E F G H 1067 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. K.S. Puttaswamy (Privacy-9J.) v. Union of India (2017) 10 SCC 1 : [2017] 10 SCR 569; Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Private Limited v. Union of India, (1985) 1 SCC 641 : [1985] 2 SCR 287; Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India, (2020) 3 SCC 637; Rohit Pandey v. Union of India (2005) 13 SCC 702; Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India (2011) 8 SCC 1 : [2011] 8 SCR 725; Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association v. Union of India (2013) 2 SCC 493 : [2013] 1 SCR 140; G.S. Mani v. Union of India order dated 12.12.2019 in W.P. (Crl.) No. 348 of 2019 - referred to. Case Law Reference [2017] 10 SCR 569 referred to para 32 [1985] 2 SCR 287 referred to para 38 (2020) 3 SCC 637 referred to para 39 (2005) 13 SCC 702 referred to para 42 [2011] 8 SCR 725 referred to para 46 [2013] 1 SCR 140 referred to para 55 CRIMINAL/CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Crl.) No.314 of 2021. (Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India) With Writ Petition (Civil) Nos.826, 909, 861, 849, 855, 829, 850, 848, 853, 851 and 890 of 2021. Colin Gonsalves, Kapil Sibal, Shyam Divan, Arvind P. Datar, Dinesh Dwivedi, Rakesh Dwivedi, C. U. Singh, Ms. Meenakshi Arora, Sr. Advs., Mishra Saurabh, Siddharth Seem, Kushagra Sinha, Shiyas MANOHAR LAL SHARMA v. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. A B C D E F G H 1068 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2021] 6 S.C.R. KR, Ms. Mishi Choudhary, Prasanth Sugathan, Satya Mitra, Manish Tiwari, Abhimanyu Tewari, Lzafeer Ahmad B. F., Ms. Rupali Samuel, Raghav Tankha, Rahul Narayan, Ms. Samiksha Godiyal, Ms. Ria Singh Sawhney, Ms. Udayaditya Banerjee, Govind Manoharan, Ms. Sugandha Yadav, Mihir C. Naniwadekar, Rahul Unnikrishnan, Abhinav Sekhri, Rangoli Seth, Prateek K. Chadha, Prateek Dwivedi, Eklavya Dwivedi, Nishant Singh, Yash Sinha, Krishnesh Bapat, Ms. Natasha Maheshwari, Ms. Vrinda Bhandari, Ms. Monika Dwivedi, Tanmay Singh, Shadan Farasat, Nizam Pasha, Ms. Vidus
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