118 admissible as evidence. "In India, the protocol ensures no unauthorised copy is made and the system remains transparent,'' says an intelligence official, dealing with the project. Moreover, access to the audit file will only be through a valid password available with any of the Central agencies. Even service providers will not have access to it to rule out any tampering. In an attempt to collate tapped data, the home ministry has asked the states for all records of phone and Internet interceptions. It also plans to supervise the working of the mandatory oversight committees on electronic surveillance in various states. At the Central level, the oversight committee is headed by the cabinet secretary and includes the law and telecom secretaries. With the home secretary approving most requests, the oversight committee is a mere formality. It rarely questions phone or Internet monitoring. Oversight committees on tapping in the states is tardily implemented. A few states don't even have these mandatory committees. The states that do have them rarely meet. Law and order being a state subject, the states are not bound to share the information. Imagine this scenario. Terrorist A sends smses from Malad in Mumbai to terrorists B in Colaba and C in Bandra. The sms asks B and C to meet at Juhu beach, at 6 p.m. As B and C are moving, it becomes difficult to nab them by their cellphone location. The police alter the sms from A and send an sms saying "meet at Kalaghoda at 5 p.m." to B and "meet at Regal Cinema at 6 p.m." to C. B and C, believing that the sms was from A, respond accordingly. The police nab all three in a smooth operation. Most anti-terror agencies can actually carry out such operations. Active off-air interception allows the police to virtually act as cellphone towers and thus modify or block smses and calls. The machine can be vehicle-mounted and can follow the target in urban areas where