The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Rajasthan High Court order which termed as “illegal” government surveillance of phones and phone-tapping. The court also issued notice to original petitioner Shashikant Joshi who questioned the surveillance and sought his reply.
In July, the high court had issued the order to the principal secretary (home) and instructed the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to destroy all recorded messages and recordings, preventing them from using the same in pending criminal cases.
The Supreme Court’s direction has come in the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government against the high court order. “The top court has stayed the HC order and issued a notice to Shashikant Joshi, a party in this case,” said additional advocate general (AAG) Manish Singhvi, who appeared for the state, while speaking to TOI on Friday.
“We maintained that the home secretary has the right to order phone surveillance in corruption cases. Apart from this, under the Telegraph Act, the state government has the right to put the phones of people on surveillance in corruption-related matters,” Singhvi said.
Source : Times of India