The Legality Of Telephone Tapping And Interception: A Study With Reference To Fundamental Rights
- IJLLR Journal
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
Aarti Sharma, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University
Dr. Abhiranjan Dixit, Associate Professor, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University
ABSTRACT
This article critically examines the legal and constitutional framework governing the interception of telephonic and digital communications in the Indian legal system. At the very onset of this study is to analyse the permanent tension between the sovereign’s mandate to ensure national security and the citizen’s fundamental right to privacy, which is now unequivocally protected under Article 21 following the landmark judgement in the case of K.S. Puttaswamy. While tracing the historical evolution from the colonial era statute of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, to the recently enacted Telecommunications Act, 2023, the research highlights an everlasting legislative reliance on broad, undefined thresholds such as "public emergency" and "public safety." Furthermore, the study analyses the differences and unequal statutory treatment of traditional voice telephony versus digital surveillance under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
By evaluating post PUCL jurisprudence and the evidentiary admissibility of intercepted communications under the new Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, the paper exposes the structural vulnerabilities of relying exclusively on an internal executive Review Committee. Ultimately, the article tries to argue that in order to satisfy the constitutional test of proportionality and prevent a chilling effect on the freedom of speech, India urgently needs a transition from an ex-post executive review system to a framework mandating independent, ex- ante judicial authorization for state surveillance.
