New Delhi:  Former Supreme Court judge from Karnataka Justice R.V. Raveendran will head the technical committee constituted by the Supreme Court, probe Pegasus snoopgate scandal.

Justice Raveendran, who served as a judge of the Supreme court from 2005-2011. Post-retirement, he has been appointed to oversee investigations in a number of cases, including the Hadiya case. Most recently, he was appointed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court to lead an inquiry into allegations of a conspiracy against the Chief Justice of the High Court and a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. He served as Chairman of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) from 2013 to 2019.

Justice Raveendran will be assisted by Alok Joshi, a man described by the Court as having "immense and diverse investigative experience and technical knowledge." Joshi was part of the 1976 batch of the Indian Police Services (IPS) and has worked as the Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Secretary of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Chairman of the National Technical Research Organisation, Bench and Bar reported.

Dr Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman of ISO/IEC JTC1 SC7 (International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro ­Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee), a sub-­committee which develops and facilitates standards within the field of software products and systems. He is a globally recognized cyber security expert and was until recently the Global Head of Cybersecurity Services, TCS.

Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean of the National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat. He has over two decades of experience as an academician, cyber security enabler and cyber security expert.

Dr. Prabaharan P, Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kerala. He has two decades of experience in computer science and security areas.

Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He has been granted 20 US patents and has published over 150 papers and authored 3 books in his field. He has received several national awards including the Vikram Sarabhai Research Award (2012) and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology

The Court has directed the committee to look into whether the Pegasus spyware was used on phones or other devices of the citizens of India to access stored data, eavesdrop on conversations and intercept information.

Committee also look into the aspects of details of the victims and/or persons affected by such a spyware attack. What steps/actions have been taken by the Centre after reports were published in the year 2019 about the hacking of WhatsApp accounts of Indian citizens, using the Pegasus suite of spyware.

Whether any Pegasus suite of spyware was acquired by the Respondent ­Union of India, or any State Government, or any central or state agency for use against the citizens of India?

If any governmental agency has used the Pegasus suite of spyware on the citizens of this country, under what law, rule, guideline, protocol or lawful procedure was such deployment made?

The court suggested the committee to recommend enactment or amendment to exist law and procedures surrounding surveillance and for securing the improved right to privacy.

Regarding enhancing and improving the cyber security of the nation and its assets. To ensure prevention of invasion of citizens’ right to privacy, otherwise than in accordance with the law, by State and/or non­-State entities through such spyware.

Regarding the establishment of a mechanism for citizens to raise grievances on suspicion of illegal surveillance of their devices.