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Indian Govt admits it taps phones illegally
Govt admits it taps phones illegallyAbraham Thomas/ New Delhi Phone-tapping case in SC ---- The Government on Monday admitted in the Supreme Court that during the six months between September 2005 and February 2006, 15 telephones were tapped without the requisite order from the authorities. In five other cases, the confirmation or approval by the authorities arrived beyond the stipulated period. In separate affidavits, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Government disclosed that during the six-month period, altogether 439 phones were tapped, out of which in 419 cases, the requisite permission from the competent authority was obtained within the stipulated period of 15 days from the date of request for interception. In other cases, the phones were tapped in violation of Government norms. The matter came up during the hearing of an application by Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who had sought the Court's intervention for stay on telecast, broadcast or publication of his illegally tapped telephone conversation. A visibly annoyed Bench headed by Chief Justice YK Sabharwal observed, "Whether a call has been intercepted illegally is one aspect. But first the service providers have to show the authority of law by which they can entertain the request by any person seeking to tap telephone of another person." Noting that under the formal procedure, either the State Government or the Centre can process the request for interception of private cell phone numbers, the bench added, "But in reality it does appear in some cases that phones are tapped without a request from the designated authority to the concerned service provider." Cautioning the service providers and the Centre to prepare their replies addressing these concerns within three weeks, the court outlined its two-fold concern. Firstly, the Bench said, "Strict procedure is to be followed on interception under authority of law and further guidelines or change in existing Telegraph Act with respect to the changed scenario of technology." Its second concern was addressed specifically to the service providers. It said, "The illegal interception, if any, by telephone companies or their officials with or without following procedure and steps taken to prevent such practice needs to be addressed too." The Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of the Centre conveyed the Centre's decision to "comprehensively"study the law. The court demanded a balance between the rights in national security and rights of a person's privacy. It was pointed out to court that as on date there existed 138 service providers catering to a subscriber base of 135 million, which was too gigantic a figure to be monitored. The Delhi Police too apprised the court of certain checks and balances newly introduced in the procedure for obtaining authorisation for interception, which would essentially counter the prevailing malaise. It must be recalled that on the previous date of hearing, court had restricted all television and print media from airing or publishing any clandestine operation conducted via cell phone after an application to this effect was filed by Samajwadi Party leader Mr Amar Singh. In his application, Mr Amar Singh had alleged that his phones were tapped illegally by the Delhi Police. Mr Singh's counsel had argued on the previous date that a total of 323 phones, including the one of his client was tapped illegally. The Delhi Police, however, refuted the claim by supplying figures on Monday stating with regard to 245 phones, due permission was obtained. In cases of 15 phone lines, request was not sent by police to Delhi Government since the same pertained to those involved in criminal activities. While in some cases, the phones were found to be non-operational and thus discarded, in others, the tapping was discontinued after the accused were arrested or the purpose of investigation had concluded. Besides Reliance, information pertaining to VSNL, BSNL, MTNL, Tata, Idea Cellular, Hutch, and Airtel were also supplied to court. Posted by: Shaviling Whealet8175 2006-03-20 |
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