Orders on phone surveillance exempted from RTI: Delhi HC

The Delhi high court has held that orders for surveiling a mobile phone by a government agency exempted from disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005, saying that such directions might have been issued during an investigation following proper authorisation and that any revelation could impede the probe.

- Shruti Kakkar

"Such order, therefore, by its very nature may have been passed in the process of investigation. In a given case, the disclosure of any such information, therefore, may impede the process of investigation, and may be construed to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, the strategic, scientific, and economic interest of the State, relations with the foreign states or lead to incitement of an offence, and would therefore be exempted from disclosure under terms of Section 8 of the RTI Act," a bench led by justice Vibhu Bakhru said in a December 22 verdict.

The bench, also comprising justice Amit Mahajan, said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) did not have the power to ask for information in relation to interception or tracking or tapping of a phone.