Phone Tapping -Invasion of the Right to Privacy- Madras High Court
▪ High Court refused to expand the scope of Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885, and permit the Central and State governments to resort to phone tapping as a covert measure for detection of crimes.
▪ As per Section 5(2), the Centre or the State governments could authorise phone tapping only in case
of two contingencies:
✓ On the occurrence of any public emergency
✓ In the interest of public safety.
▪ The court emphasized that these are strict thresholds, and its role is to verify if these are met.
▪ Phone tapping is an invasion of the right to privacy, a part of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty (Article 21) of the Constitution.
