Former BJP Leader Govindacharya’s Petition On Whatsapp Snooping Listed For Supreme Court Hearing On December 2

RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya’s petition regarding the WhatsApp snooping case has been listed for hearing on Monday, December 2 in court number 1 before the bench of the Chief Justice of India, according to the updated cause list on the Supreme Court website.

The petitioner, RSS ideologue K N Govindacharya, has sought an NIA probe against Facebook, WhatsApp and the Israeli NSO Group.

Govindacharya, a former BJP leader, had filed the writ petition under Article 31 of the Constitution, “seeking directions to protect the fundamental right of privacy of Indians from illegal surveillance being carried out”. It argues that the right is “being violated by illegal surveillance by apps and Internet companies”.

His petition has also sought perjury proceedings against WhatsApp for allegedly “misleading” the court about encryption and data during another case proceeding.

Govindacharya’s petitioned the Supreme Court after it was reported that WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens were hacked to spy on them.

According to WhatsApp, this was done by using a spyware called Pegasus, which has been developed by an Israeli firm, the NSO Group. WhatsApp has sued the NSO Group in a US court for allegedly targeting the phones of 1,400 users.

Govindacharya’s petition has stated that according to the Israeli firm NSO, it sells Pegasus only to government agencies. The fact that human rights activists as well as lawyers were snooped upon showed the gravity of the situation.

Earlier, the Chief Minister of Delhi had stated that the phones of judges were also being tapped.

The respondents in the petition include Union of India, IT Ministry, Facebook and WhatsApp.