New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed serious concern over the Chhattisgarh government tapping the phone of a senior IPS officer — and allegedly also of his two daughters — and wondered if “somebody’s privacy can be violated like this”.
“No privacy is left for anybody. What is happening in this country?” the top court observed.
It asked the state government as to who ordered for interception of the phones of the senior police officer Mukesh Gupta and his family members and directed it to file a detailed affidavit explaining the reason for the action.
During the previous hearing in the case on October 25, Gupta had alleged that his and his two young daughters’ phones were being intercepted. The state government had admitted that his phone was being tapped as he has been evading arrest in two cases lodged against him.
During the hearing on Monday, a bench of justices Arun Mishra and Indira Banerjee asked the Chhattisgarh government if an individual’s phone can be intercepted just to trace him.
“Everyday something is happening. What is the need of this? No privacy is left for anybody. What is happening in this country,” the bench said, adding, “Can privacy of somebody be violated like this? Who ordered this? File a detailed affidavit”.
The top court also took exception to a separate FIR lodged against an advocate who is representing the IPS officer before the apex court.
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for Gupta, informed the bench that the Chhattisgarh police had come to arrest his client and his lawyer Ravi Sharma called up the police to know under which FIR he was being arrested.
The bench said the lawyer, as an officer of the court, has every right to know from the police that under which FIR or provisions his client was being arrested.
It stayed that any further investigation against the lawyer and said that no coercive action be taken against him till further orders.
The bench also told Jethmalani, and senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul who is appearing for the Chhattisgarh government, not to politicise the issue by dragging the name of Chhattisgarh CM in the matter.
Senior advocate Vivek Tankha and Chhattisgarh standing counsel Sumeer Sodhi alongwith advocate general SC Verma told the bench that the chief minister has nothing to do with the case and his name should be struck off from the list of parties. (PTI)
