Open Access Research Article
BEYOND INTERCEPTION: PEGASUS SPYWARE, AND CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The July 2021 disclosures of the Pegasus Project showed that
military-grade spyware made by the firm NSO Group had been used against more
than three hundred Indian mobile numbers. Those numbers belong to journalists,
opposition politicians, constitutional functionaries, and activists. Unlike
telephone tapping Pegasus takes full control of the target device, pulls data
that is already stored and secretly turns on the camera and microphone. Pegasus
becomes a tool for hidden watching. This paper argues that this activity
is completely outside
India’s surveillance laws and therefore is unauthorized access under Section 66 of the Information
Technology Act 2000, regardless of who used it. By looking at the Supreme Court
decision in Manohar Lal Sharma v Union of India, the paper shows how the
scandal reveals problems with Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 21, 32 and 226. It places India’s
reaction in context
and points out the gaps in law – especially the lack
of a rule that covers state hacking and the broad national-security exemption
in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, which are still open. The paper ends by saying
that the Pegasus
scandal is not about one piece of technology; it is a test of
whether executive power in India is truly, not just apparently, limited by the
Constitution.
Published Paper
Author Details
Authors: VANSHIKA SHARMA
Registration ID: 1013071 | Published Paper ID: IJLRA13071
Year: Aug-2026 | Volume: 3 | Issue: 5
Approved ISSN: 2582-6433 | Country: Delhi, India
Page No.: 1839-1855
Article Information
BEYOND INTERCEPTION: PEGASUS SPYWARE, AND CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA
Authors: VANSHIKA SHARMA
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Volume 3
- Issue 5
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- AbbreviationIJLRA
- ISSN2582-6433
- AccessOpen Access
- LicenseCC 4.0
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