The Evening Wrap: Truth has to come out in Pegasus issue, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that "truth has to come out" in the Pegasus snooping issue. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant said the allegations of the government using Israel-based technology to spy on civilians, journalists, Ministers, parliamentarians, activists were "no doubt serious", provided the news reports were true. The Bench directed the petitioners, including senior journalists N. Ram, the Editors Guild of India, Rajya Sabha Member John Brittas and five journalists, reported to be targeted by Pegasus spyware, to serve copies of their petitions to the offices of the Attorney General of India and the Solicitor General. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, represented by senior advocate Manish Tiwari, has also filed a petition. Listing the case for August 10, the Bench said it wanted the government to be represented in court in the next hearing. "Somebody should appear for the government," Chief Justice Ramana observed. The court did not issue a formal notice to the government. Part of the court's reluctance was invited by a petition by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma in which he has arraigned individuals as respondents. Sharma has named Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as personal parties in his petition. The CJI said that some of the petitioners have expanded the scope of their pleas beyond Pegasus to other issues, including a challenge on authorised interceptions under the Telegraph Act. "There are a number of problems… We have to see which petitions we have to issue notice on. Some have even challenged the Telegraph Act… These are unnecessary complications," Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Kant told the lawyers. The hearing began with a barrage of questions from the Bench. For one, the Chief Justice noted that a "majority" of the petitions were based on reports in foreign newspapers. The court asked whether there was any other "verifiable material" based on which it could order an inquiry into the Pegasus allegations. We are not saying the petitions are based on hearsay and we cannot say there is no material, but with your access to international materials and resources, should you not have made more efforts?" Chief Justice Ramana asked the petitioners' side. Secondly, he said questions regarding surveillance had popped up over two years ago. "Why have you come now suddenly? What were you doing for two years." Thirdly, the court asked why the "targets" have not taken criminal action. "If you knew your phone was hacked, why did you not file a criminal complaint?" he queried. Responding to the first question about the need for "verifiable material other than foreign newspaper reports" to order an inquiry, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ram and senior journalist Sashi Kumar, said a California court had recorded that the Pegasus spyware was "only sold to government agencies". The U.S. court had rejected a plea by NSO Group, the creators of the Pegasus spyware, for "sovereign immunity". Ram's petition clearly mentioned that the U.S. court was dealing with a suit filed by WhatsApp against the NSO Group "for targeting the mobile phones of around 1400 users with malware". But Sibal said there was anyway no dispute about Pegasus targeting Indian phone users. A statement was made by the Minister in the Lok Sabha in July, taking note of Pegasus surveillance of Indian users. On the second question about why the petitioners have moved court in 2021 and not in 2019 when reports of unauthorised surveillance first came out, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, for Brittas, stated that the issue was indeed raised in November 2019. "The Minister had then answered there was no unauthorised interception," Arora submitted. Senior advocate C.U. Singh, for the Editors Guild, said the names of targets came to be known only in July 2021. On the third question regarding why 'targets' did not go to court individually, senior advocate Shyam Divan said this was not an individual case of surveillance. "The dimension of this surveillance is huge. This is an issue which requires the formation of an independent fact-finding body at the highest level," he submitted. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, for the five journalists, agreed that the enormity of the allegations and the number of persons targeted deserved the court to take up this case as a "class action suit". "Pegasus is a rogue technology. It is entirely illegal. It infiltrates our lives without our knowledge through our phones… It hears, it watches, it surveys our every movement. It destroys the constitutional values of our Republic like privacy and individual dignity. Moreover, it destroys our national Internet backbone and is a threat to our national security… Please issue notice to the government. Let the government come on board and say why and how Pegasus infiltrated in India… Let the government say why, if they knew of the surveillance, they did not register a case… Why did the Government of India keep quiet?" Sibal said. He said he was informed that accessing a mobile phone using Pegasus costs $55000. "The NSO Group says its technology is used for fighting terror and crime… So all these journalists are terrorists now?" he inquired. Govt moves to scrap retro taxes law that led to disputes with Vodafone, Cairn Energy The government on Thursday took the first step towards doing away with the contentious retrospective tax law of 2012, that was used to raise large tax demands on foreign investors like Vodafone and Cairn and has culminated in a freeze order from a foreign court on India's overseas assets. Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced The Taxation laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to nullify the relevant retrospective tax clauses that were introduced in 2012 to bring past indirect transfer of Indian assets under the ambit of taxation. As per the proposed changes, any tax demand made on transactions that took place before May 2012 shall be dropped and any taxes already collected shall be repaid, albeit without interest. To be eligible, the concerned taxpayers would have to drop all pending cases against the government and promise not to make any demands for damages or costs. Experts welcomed the move as it will end policy uncertainty for potential investors who have seen the Vodafone and Cairn cases unfold over the past decade. "This could help restore India's reputation as a fair and predictable regime apart from helping put an end to unnecessary, prolonged and expensive litigation," said Pranav Sayta, tax partner at EY. Former Finance Minister, the late Pranab Mukherjee, had introduced the retrospective taxation power after the Supreme Court had held Vodafone couldn't be taxed for a 2007 transaction that involved its purchase of a 67% stake in Hutchison Whampoa for $11 billion. Later, the tax was invoked against Cairn for a corporate reorganisation done in 2006-07 and its assets were frozen by authorities. The NDA, which was in the Opposition at the time, had termed this 'tax terrorism' and late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised to stop the retrospective tax levy. However, there was no move to scrap the law in its seven years in office so far. The latest rethink could have been prompted by Cairn Energy securing an order to freeze Indian assets in Paris last month. "The ghost of the retrospective amendment on indirect transfers is now proposed to be buried with the government giving up claims on taxes due under such covered indirect transfers of Indian assets and is seeking to respect the original decision of the Supreme Court," noted Aravind Srivatsan, tax leader at Nangia Andersen. Separate international arbitration tribunal verdicts in the Vodafone and Cairn cases have ruled against India's retrospective tax demands over the past year. While the government had earlier said it will honour the legal process, it has filed appeals against both the verdicts. Cairn Energy, which was awarded $1.2 billion by an international tribunal has filed cases in at least ten global jurisdictions, including the U.S., U.K., Canada and Japan to seize India's assets in lieu of the award as the government didn't abide by the tribunal's decision. After Cairn filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against Air India this May, seeking to make the national carrier liable to pay the damages awarded to it, the Finance Ministry said it is 'vigorously defending' its case against the international arbitration order and asserted that India had never 'agreed to arbitrate' a national tax dispute. In early July, a French court allowed Cairn to freeze at least 20 Indian properties in Paris worth $23 million. Relief for NRIs as UAE brings in new exemptions for residency visa holders Thousands of Non Resident Indians (NRIs), especially from Kerala, hope to rejoin their jobs and reunite with their families as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) allowed entry of expatriates with valid residency visas who have taken both doses of approved Covid-19 vaccine from Thursday. However, they would have to cross multiple hurdles to make their way back to the UAE. Many of them now have to renew their visas since expatriate residents who reside outside for more than six months continuously will have their residency visas automatically cancelled. That means they would have to apply for a new entry permit to enter the West-Asian country again. Employees stranded would have to obtain approval letters from their employer or sponsor, which must be submitted at the airport immigration counter. Likewise, the entry permits would be applicable for family visits and even transmit passengers from India. Incidentally, the new relaxation in rules does not allow expatriates to re-enter the UAE even if they are on the 30-day grace period after their visa expiry. As such, their employer or sponsor, including spouse and parents, will have to cancel their existing visa and apply for a new entry permit. Rajnath Singh promised to resolve deadlock but did nothing: Mallikarjun Kharge The Opposition-government tussle came to a head on Thursday when Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of running a propaganda that the opposition is being inflexible despite the government's attempt to broker a peace deal. Kharge accused Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of not delivering on his promise to resolve the deadlock. While the House discussed the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021, Kharge said there was an attempt outside the House as well as inside to blame the Opposition for not cooperating in discussions during the ongoing session. An impression was being spread that Singh was trying to end the logjam but the Opposition was refusing to agree. Kharge said Singh called him and told him that he would find some "solution" to the problem after returning from a foreign trip. But a week had passed since his return and there had been no notice for a meeting received by any leader. The Opposition was ready for a discussion, he asserted, and asked the government to initiate the same. Singh responded by telling the House that he "never made any such assurance". He said he did call Kharge and told him that the House should function smoothly and "all important issues" should be discussed. Sources said Leader of the House Piyush Goyal met Opposition leaders individually to convince them to allow the passing of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021. There was no mention of the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021. Amidst ruckus, the government moved and cleared the bill by voice vote, leaving the Opposition stunned. The Opposition wanted to send the Bill for further scrutiny to a parliamentary panel. But amidst the protest, that did not happen. The Left parties, in particular, had serious objections to the Bill. Earlier in the day, the Upper House saw two adjournments in the pre-noon session after a row broke out over a suspended TMC member breaking the glass of a door of the Chamber, an act Deputy Chairman Harivansh called "highly deplorable and condemnable". He, however, did not name the said MP. Tokyo Olympics: Indian hockey ends 41-year wait for Olympic medal; Ravi Dahiya settles for silver in wrestling India today ended a 41-year wait for an Olympic medal in hockey, beating Germany 5-4 with a lion-hearted performance to win the bronze medal. The win showcased this team's unending supply of grit and energy and outlined all the work put in while training in isolation for more than a year in Bengaluru. As coach Graham Reid put it, "Watch this space, we've got a lot more to do." This is the India men's 12th Olympics medal in hockey, the highest in Games history, but the first after the gold medal in Moscow 1980. What's more, India women's team will play for bronze against Great Britain on Friday. Meanwhile, Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya (57kg) clinched the silver medal in Olympics after losing 4-7 in the final to Russian Olympic Committee's Zavur Uguev. Despite starting off cautiously, Uguev got off the mark and doubled his lead within seconds. Ravi might have equalled the scoreboard at 2-2 but Uguev, showing off his immense power, again took the lead as the Indian wrestler trailed 4-2 after the conclusion of the first period. Uguev came firing on all cylinders and further extended his lead as he gave no chance to Ravi to dominate the game. At one point, Uguev was leading the match 7-2 when Ravi earned two more points to come close to his opponent Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,18,17,753 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,26,468. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

The Evening Wrap 05 AUGUST 2021

Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu.

Open in browser More newsletters

Truth has to come out in Pegasus issue, says Supreme Court The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that "truth has to come out" in the Pegasus snooping issue. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant said the allegations of the government using Israel-based technology to spy on civilians, journalists, Ministers, parliamentarians, activists were "no doubt serious", provided the news reports were true. The Bench directed the petitioners, including senior journalists N. Ram, the Editors Guild of India, Rajya Sabha Member John Brittas and five journalists, reported to be targeted by Pegasus spyware, to serve copies of their petitions to the offices of the Attorney General of India and the Solicitor General. Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, represented by senior advocate Manish Tiwari, has also filed a petition.   Listing the case for August 10, the Bench said it wanted the government to be represented in court in the next hearing. "Somebody should appear for the government," Chief Justice Ramana observed. The court did not issue a formal notice to the government. Part of the court's reluctance was invited by a petition by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma in which he has arraigned individuals as respondents. Sharma has named Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah as personal parties in his petition. The CJI said that some of the petitioners have expanded the scope of their pleas beyond Pegasus to other issues, including a challenge on authorised interceptions under the Telegraph Act. "There are a number of problems… We have to see which petitions we have to issue notice on. Some have even challenged the Telegraph Act… These are unnecessary complications," Chief Justice Ramana and Justice Kant told the lawyers. The hearing began with a barrage of questions from the Bench. For one, the Chief Justice noted that a "majority" of the petitions were based on reports in foreign newspapers. The court asked whether there was any other "verifiable material" based on which it could order an inquiry into the Pegasus allegations. We are not saying the petitions are based on hearsay and we cannot say there is no material, but with your access to international materials and resources, should you not have made more efforts?" Chief Justice Ramana asked the petitioners' side. Secondly, he said questions regarding surveillance had popped up over two years ago. "Why have you come now suddenly? What were you doing for two years." Thirdly, the court asked why the "targets" have not taken criminal action. "If you knew your phone was hacked, why did you not file a criminal complaint?" he queried. Responding to the first question about the need for "verifiable material other than foreign newspaper reports" to order an inquiry, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ram and senior journalist Sashi Kumar, said a California court had recorded that the Pegasus spyware was "only sold to government agencies". The U.S. court had rejected a plea by NSO Group, the creators of the Pegasus spyware, for "sovereign immunity". Ram's petition clearly mentioned that the U.S. court was dealing with a suit filed by WhatsApp against the NSO Group "for targeting the mobile phones of around 1400 users with malware". But Sibal said there was anyway no dispute about Pegasus targeting Indian phone users. A statement was made by the Minister in the Lok Sabha in July, taking note of Pegasus surveillance of Indian users. On the second question about why the petitioners have moved court in 2021 and not in 2019 when reports of unauthorised surveillance first came out, senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, for Brittas, stated that the issue was indeed raised in November 2019. "The Minister had then answered there was no unauthorised interception," Arora submitted. Senior advocate C.U. Singh, for the Editors Guild, said the names of targets came to be known only in July 2021. On the third question regarding why 'targets' did not go to court individually, senior advocate Shyam Divan said this was not an individual case of surveillance. "The dimension of this surveillance is huge. This is an issue which requires the formation of an independent fact-finding body at the highest level," he submitted. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, for the five journalists, agreed that the enormity of the allegations and the number of persons targeted deserved the court to take up this case as a "class action suit". "Pegasus is a rogue technology. It is entirely illegal. It infiltrates our lives without our knowledge through our phones… It hears, it watches, it surveys our every movement. It destroys the constitutional values of our Republic like privacy and individual dignity. Moreover, it destroys our national Internet backbone and is a threat to our national security… Please issue notice to the government. Let the government come on board and say why and how Pegasus infiltrated in India… Let the government say why, if they knew of the surveillance, they did not register a case… Why did the Government of India keep quiet?" Sibal said. He said he was informed that accessing a mobile phone using Pegasus costs $55000. "The NSO Group says its technology is used for fighting terror and crime… So all these journalists are terrorists now?" he inquired. Govt moves to scrap retro taxes law that led to disputes with Vodafone, Cairn Energy  The government on Thursday took the first step towards doing away with the contentious retrospective tax law of 2012, that was used to raise large tax demands on foreign investors like Vodafone and Cairn and has culminated in a freeze order from a foreign court on India's overseas assets.   Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced The Taxation laws (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to nullify the relevant retrospective tax clauses that were introduced in 2012 to bring past indirect transfer of Indian assets under the ambit of taxation.   As per the proposed changes, any tax demand made on transactions that took place before May 2012 shall be dropped and any taxes already collected shall be repaid, albeit without interest. To be eligible, the concerned taxpayers would have to drop all pending cases against the government and promise not to make any demands for damages or costs.  Experts welcomed the move as it will end policy uncertainty for potential investors who have seen the Vodafone and Cairn cases unfold over the past decade. "This could help restore India's reputation as a fair and predictable regime apart from helping put an end to unnecessary, prolonged and expensive litigation," said Pranav Sayta, tax partner at EY.   Former Finance Minister, the late Pranab Mukherjee, had introduced the retrospective taxation power after the Supreme Court had held Vodafone couldn't be taxed for a 2007 transaction that involved its purchase of a 67% stake in Hutchison Whampoa for $11 billion. Later, the tax was invoked against Cairn for a corporate reorganisation done in 2006-07 and its assets were frozen by authorities. The NDA, which was in the Opposition at the time, had termed this 'tax terrorism' and late Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had promised to stop the retrospective tax levy. However, there was no move to scrap the law in its seven years in office so far. The latest rethink could have been prompted by Cairn Energy securing an order to freeze Indian assets in Paris last month.    "The ghost of the retrospective amendment on indirect transfers is now proposed to be buried with the government giving up claims on taxes due under such covered indirect transfers of Indian assets and is seeking to respect the original decision of the Supreme Court," noted Aravind Srivatsan, tax leader at Nangia Andersen.   Separate international arbitration tribunal verdicts in the Vodafone and Cairn cases have ruled against India's retrospective tax demands over the past year. While the government had earlier said it will honour the legal process, it has filed appeals against both the verdicts.   Cairn Energy, which was awarded $1.2 billion by an international tribunal has filed cases in at least ten global jurisdictions, including the U.S., U.K., Canada and Japan to seize India's assets in lieu of the award as the government didn't abide by the tribunal's decision.  After Cairn filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court against Air India this May, seeking to make the national carrier liable to pay the damages awarded to it, the Finance Ministry said it is 'vigorously defending' its case against the international arbitration order and asserted that India had never 'agreed to arbitrate' a national tax dispute. In early July, a French court allowed Cairn to freeze at least 20 Indian properties in Paris worth $23 million.   Relief for NRIs as UAE brings in new exemptions for residency visa holders  Thousands of Non Resident Indians (NRIs), especially from Kerala, hope to rejoin their jobs and reunite with their families as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) allowed entry of expatriates with valid residency visas who have taken both doses of approved Covid-19 vaccine from Thursday. However, they would have to cross multiple hurdles to make their way back to the UAE. Many of them now have to renew their visas since expatriate residents who reside outside for more than six months continuously will have their residency visas automatically cancelled. That means they would have to apply for a new entry permit to enter the West-Asian country again. Employees stranded would have to obtain approval letters from their employer or sponsor, which must be submitted at the airport immigration counter. Likewise, the entry permits would be applicable for family visits and even transmit passengers from India. Incidentally, the new relaxation in rules does not allow expatriates to re-enter the UAE even if they are on the 30-day grace period after their visa expiry. As such, their employer or sponsor, including spouse and parents, will have to cancel their existing visa and apply for a new entry permit. Rajnath Singh promised to resolve deadlock but did nothing: Mallikarjun Kharge  The Opposition-government tussle came to a head on Thursday when Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge accused the government of running a propaganda that the opposition is being inflexible despite the government's attempt to broker a peace deal. Kharge accused Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of not delivering on his promise to resolve the deadlock. While the House discussed the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021, Kharge said there was an attempt outside the House as well as inside to blame the Opposition for not cooperating in discussions during the ongoing session. An impression was being spread that Singh was trying to end the logjam but the Opposition was refusing to agree. Kharge said Singh called him and told him that he would find some "solution" to the problem after returning from a foreign trip. But a week had passed since his return and there had been no notice for a meeting received by any leader. The Opposition was ready for a discussion, he asserted, and asked the government to initiate the same. Singh responded by telling the House that he "never made any such assurance". He said he did call Kharge and told him that the House should function smoothly and "all important issues" should be discussed. Sources said Leader of the House Piyush Goyal met Opposition leaders individually to convince them to allow the passing of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, and the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021. There was no mention of the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021. Amidst ruckus, the government moved and cleared the bill by voice vote, leaving the Opposition stunned. The Opposition wanted to send the Bill for further scrutiny to a parliamentary panel. But amidst the protest, that did not happen. The Left parties, in particular, had serious objections to the Bill. Earlier in the day, the Upper House saw two adjournments in the pre-noon session after a row broke out over a suspended TMC member breaking the glass of a door of the Chamber, an act Deputy Chairman Harivansh called "highly deplorable and condemnable". He, however, did not name the said MP. Tokyo Olympics: Indian hockey ends 41-year wait for Olympic medal; Ravi Dahiya settles for silver in wrestling  India today ended a 41-year wait for an Olympic medal in hockey, beating Germany 5-4 with a lion-hearted performance to win the bronze medal. The win showcased this team's unending supply of grit and energy and outlined all the work put in while training in isolation for more than a year in Bengaluru. As coach Graham Reid put it, "Watch this space, we've got a lot more to do." This is the India men's 12th Olympics medal in hockey, the highest in Games history, but the first after the gold medal in Moscow 1980. What's more, India women's team will play for bronze against Great Britain on Friday.   Meanwhile, Indian wrestler Ravi Dahiya (57kg) clinched the silver medal in Olympics after losing 4-7 in the final to Russian Olympic Committee's Zavur Uguev. Despite starting off cautiously, Uguev got off the mark and doubled his lead within seconds. Ravi might have equalled the scoreboard at 2-2 but Uguev, showing off his immense power, again took the lead as the Indian wrestler trailed 4-2 after the conclusion of the first period. Uguev came firing on all cylinders and further extended his lead as he gave no chance to Ravi to dominate the game. At one point, Uguev was leading the match 7-2 when Ravi earned two more points to come close to his opponent Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments  The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,18,17,753 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,26,468.  Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

Today's Top Picks

Metaverse | What is the 'next generation of Internet' Zuckerberg and Nadella are talking about? Walter Isaacson to write biography of Elon Musk   For the first time, Keeladi site yields iron dagger with wooden handle Ancestral Dravidian languages were possibly spoken by many in Indus Valley civilisation, says study

Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD.

If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please try here If you do not wish to receive such emails go here