PEGASUS SPYWARE AND CONSTITUTIONAL PRIVACY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MANOHAR LAL SHARMA V. UNION OF INDIA, 2021

The Pegasus case is one of the more significant constitutional law decisions of the digital time, because it basically deals with the way state power, technology, privacy, and free speech fit together. The petitions came out of reports saying that Pegasus spyware had been used against almost 300 Indians, which included members of the media, and people working in civil society. The Supreme Court was then asked to order an independent probe, or at least something like that. The judgment is important because it raises a real question, like whether constitutional rights can stay meaningful when the surveillance is kept in the shadows, it is technological issue, and it’s also hard to show in normal court battles. At the heart of the decision is the Court’s position that national security cannot be treated as a blanket shield, just to dodge judicial scrutiny.