So the question arises who can intercept telephones and under what law in our system of rule of law based democratic governance? Well, interception of communications by authorized law enforcement agencies is carried out in keeping with Section 5 (2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 read with Rule 419A of Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007.
Official authorized agencies for lawful interception at the Government of India level are: Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Directorate of Enforcement, Central Board of Direct Taxes, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Research & Analysis Wing, Directorate of Signal Intelligence, Ministry of Defence, for Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Assam Service Areas only. At the State Government level, authorized agencies to maintain electronic surveillance lawfully are: Director General of Police of concerned state, Commissioner of Police, Delhi for Delhi Metro City Service Area only.
Authorised official agencies can seek Call Data Records (CDRs) by following the statutory provisions in Section 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 or Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 read with Rule 419A of Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has issued Standard Operating Procedures for interception, handling, use, sharing, copying, storage, and destruction of records to the Central law enforcement agencies. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in the Union Ministry of Communications & Information Technology has issued Standard Operating Procedures for lawful interception to the Telecom Service Providers (ISPs).
To stop misuse of electronic surveillance and for better checks and balances, the orders of the competent authority for lawful interception are reviewed by a Review Committee(s) constituted under Rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007.
Recently, incidents of physical and electronic surveillance in the States of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, without authorization have been reported. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up a Commission of Inquiry under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 to look into these incidents. Added to this, corporate lobbyist Neera Radia’s now infamous tapes by the CBDT have exposed skeletons in the corporate sector, Government and media showing how the vested interests in these segments work to their advantages and detriment of public interests!
India
Who can tap telephones and call records?
M.Y.Siddiqui - 2014-05-10 16:04
Interception of telephones and call records forms part of statecraft to gather intelligence for strengthening national security from internal and external sources to ensure peace and progress of the nation. In private sector, electronic surveillance of rivals is resorted to strengthen ones business interests in the growing cutthroat and predatory competitive environment. In politics, telephone tapping is a hot subject; every now and then some leaders, political parties and others raise hue and cry over their phones being tapped by their rivals in the ruling government to keep a watchful eye on their activities.