Number of phones, emails tapped by govt doubled in July

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The number of phones and email
accounts being tapped in India nearly doubled during the
month of July, with central security agencies making fresh
requests for monitoring 3,420 phone lines and 465 email
accounts.
A total of 4,350 phone lines and 501 email addresses were
under surveillance and fresh orders were received from the
Indian Home Secretary recently for monitoring of an additional
3,420 telephones and 465 e-mails during July, says an internal
government document.
In addition, about 465 orders were passed for tapping
overseas phones, besides 281 orders under Rule 419A of the
Indian Telegraph Act, which permits phone tapping for a
limited period of time in case of a public emergency by
various intelligence and probe agencies, including the
Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and
National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Clearance for snooping into these phones and e-mails was
given by a high-level committee headed by the Cabinet
Secretary. At a meeting held on September 5, the committee,
however, sought more details on some of the orders passed and
also asked the Home Secretary to make sure that tapping does
not extend beyond the stipulated 180 days.
The Indian Supreme Court had ordered the government to
set up this high-level committee to review the phone tapping
orders passed by the Home Secretary.
While the central and the state government agencies have
the right to tap phones under Section 5 of Indian Telegraphic
Act, 1885, recent events of phone tapping have raised issues
of privacy.
The government has, therefore, finalised new laws with
regard to tapping phone calls and intercepting e-mails in bid
to make the system more robust. This includes making it
mandatory for law enforcing agencies to destroy all recordings
of individual conversations that are not relevant to the
investigation.