WP.Nos.5466 & 5470 of 2020
recognised by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of People's
Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Vs. Union of India reported in (1997) 1
SCC 301. The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India held that telephonic tapping
cannot happen unless specific criteria as mentioned in Section 5 (2) of Indian
Telegraph Act are satisfied along with the criteria laid down in the case. The
circumstances in which such permission can be granted is when there is a
specific public emergency and the same related to some matter relating to
sovereignty and the integrity of India; the security of the states; friendly
relationship with foreign states; public order or for preventing incitement to
the commission of an offence. These steps laid down have been reaffirmed by
the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of K.S.Puttuswamy(Retd) and
another Vs. Union of India and others reported in (2017) 10 SCC 1 in respect
of right to privacy and (2019) 1 SCC 1 in respect of adhar recognising the
limited field within which telephonic tapping can be permitted, namely where
objective for such telephone taping pertains to a need arising out of a ‘public
emergency’.
4.
He further submitted that in pursuant to the impugned
order, the telephone record details which have been annexed and furnished are
much prior to the date of sanction. It shows the fact that the tapping of the
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