Hearing a batch of pleas on the Pegasus row, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said there’s nothing wrong in a country using spyware for security purposes, but members of civil society have a right to privacy that is protected by the Constitution.”What’s wrong if a country is using spyware? To have spyware is not wrong, but against whom you are using it is the question. You can’t sacrifice the security of the nation,” a two-judge bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said.The apex court was hearing a number of petitions seeking a detailed probe into allegations that the government used Israeli software Pegasus for snooping against journalists, judges, activists, politicians and others.One of the lawyers of the petitioners told the bench that the basic issue in the case was whether the government had the Pegasus spyware and was using it.Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, said, “Terrorists cannot claim privacy rights.”Hearing this, the bench said, “A civil individual who has the right to privacy will be protected under the Constitution.”
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