NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has listed to hear a plea by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar for an independent probe by a sitting or a retired judge into the Pegasus snooping matter sometime next week by a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana along with Justice Surya Kant.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal's mentioned the matter before the bench of the CJI pleading urgency in the hearing as the matter concerns the fundamental rights and civil liberties and in view of its wide ramifications and added that over 142 potential including several leaders of the opposition, journalists and even court staff have been put under surveillance.

The petition by the two journalists seeks a direction to the Centre to disclose if the government or any of its agencies authorised snooping through spyware called 'Pegasus,' either directly or indirectly, to conduct surveillance in any manner.

They have contended that hacking of phones using the Pegasus spyware constituted a criminal offence punishable under Sections 66 (computer-related offences), 66B (punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device), 66E (punishment for violation of privacy) and 66F (punishment for cyberterrorism) of the IT Act.

The Pegasus software, manufactured by Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group Technologies is extremely advanced spyware capable of infecting a mobile phone or a connected device without the user knowing about it.

A united opposition led by Congress and Trinamool Congress has been accusing the government of 'treason' and compromising on national security over the Pegasus spyware issue, and has been demanding the sacking of Home Minister Amit Shah.