PIL in Supreme Court against govt’s move to authorise 10 agencies to intercept, monitor any computer

Advocates ML Sharma and Ami Sahni have questioned the December 20 order and sought its quashing.

Two public interest litigations were filed on Monday in the Supreme Court challenging the recent Ministry of Home Affairs order authorising 10 central agencies to intercept, monitor, decrypt “any information” on computers.

The petition filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma seeks quashing of the government’s December 20 notification. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Advocates ML Sharma and Ami Sahni have questioned the December 20 order and sought its quashing.

The 10 agencies notified under the new order are the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (for Income Tax Department), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in service areas of J-K, North East and Assam) and Delhi Police commissioner.

Sahni wants a strict redressal mechanism to be put in place to resolve the grievance of citizen, in case his or her right to privacy is infringed upon by such an order.

The order is unconstitutional, undemocratic and an assault on fundamental rights of the citizens of India, he said.

“Every citizen cannot be suspected as a criminal and the object of passing the order is to have a surveillance country or something else, which is best known to the respondent. By way of the order the respondent wish to snoop on every citizen which is highly unjustified and contrary to the Constitution of India and the law laid down by the Supreme Court,” Sahni said, pointing out that the order infringes citizens’ privacy, declared a fundamental right by the top court in 207.