Apex court issues notice to Centre against ‘snooping’
NEW DELHI: The government’s move to give investigating agencies sweeping powers to intercept and monitor data on computers will be examined by the Supreme Court. Allowing a batch of petitions against the Home Ministry’s order that privacy activists claim is the same as “snooping”, the Supreme Court today gave six weeks to the government to file its reply.
The petitions by lawyer Shreya Singhal, her co-petitioner and Trinamool Congress lawmaker Mahua Moitra, Supreme Court lawyer ML Sharma and others alleged that the government’s order is against the fundamental right to privacy and must be cancelled in the interest of justice, which the court will examine now.
Ten central agencies have been equipped with powers of “interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer,” in the order signed by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba in December last year.
Earlier, only the home ministry could scan calls and emails of people. The new order gave that power to the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, CBI, National Investigation Agency, Cabinet Secretariat (Research and Analysis Wing), Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in Jammu and Kashmir, NorthEast and Assam only) and the Delhi Police Commissioner.
“For the first time, powers of scanning data at rest have been given to various agencies. Earlier, only data in motion could be intercepted. But now data revived, stored and generated can also be intercepted as powers of seizure have been given,” a senior bureaucrat explained.
This means not just calls or emails, but any data found on a computer can be intercepted. The agencies will also have powers to seize the devices.
According to the notification, the subscriber or service provider or any person in charge of the computer resource is bound to extend all facilities and technical help to the agencies if they ask for data. If not, they can face seven years in jail and a fine.
Earlier, the government had authorised agencies to tap phone calls but after permission from the Home Secretary. The order was last updated in
2011 and enables agencies to get into social media accounts and telephone intercepts.
The government’s move set off a political storm with the opposition accusing the Centre of trying to create a “surveillance state”.
However, the central government had said the rules for intercepting and monitoring computer data were framed in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA was in power and its new order only notified the designated authority which can carry out such action.