Pegasus row: You’re beating around the bush, SC tells Centre

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After the Centre's denial to file a detailed affidavit clarifying whether Pegasus spyware was used or not, the Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on a batch of petitions seeking independent probe into snooping claims.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana that it's not going to file a detailed affidavit, after taking time twice to make a decision. It said the disclosure whether the country is using a particular software or not may cause "harm" and alert all potential targets, including terror groups. The bench also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli told Mehta the court was reiterating that it is not interested in any manner to know anything about issues which concerns national security. It said the court is only concerned about the allegations that some software has been used to snoop on some citizens, including journalists and lawyers. "We are reserving order. We will pass some interim order. It will take two-three days. If you have some re-thinking on this, you can mention the matter before us," the bench said.

"You (Solicitor General) have repeatedly been saying that the Government does not want to file an affidavit. We also do not want any security issues to be put before us... Mr Mehta, you have been beating around the bush and that is not the question here".

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