Synopsis: Advocate Bhushan submitted that this is an alarming state of affairs. In Puttaswamy and PUCL, the three systems destroy everything said by the Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court sought the Central Government’s response to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions from the Centre to stop collecting data from people through NATGRID, the Central Monitoring System and Netra.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) argued that government actions flew in the face of the Supreme Court judgement in the case of KS Puttaswamy.
Advocate Bhushan submitted that this is an alarming state of affairs. In Puttaswamy and PUCL, the three systems destroy everything said by the Supreme Court.
DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan, Division Bench of Chief Justice, ordered the Centre to file its affidavit in the plea, but declined to pass any interim order seeking information of the data collected upto date.
Bhushan argued that NATGRID, the Central Monitoring System (CMS) and Netra collectively create 360º surveillance of citizens, including High Court and Supreme Court judges.
“The government can see all internet traffic, all emails, communications sent through the use of the internet,” he said.
He added that the information gathered by the government included one’s bank account data, transactions, travel history, etc.
With regard to the “phone tapping” procedure, Bhushan reported that as many as 7,500-9,000 permits are currently issued regularly each month while the Review Committee sits once every two months.
Based on Puttaswamy, Bhushan argued that unless it is legally allowed to do so the government is not entitled to know these details about a citizen, there is a particular objective behind it and when it meets the standards of proportionality.
The matter is to be taken up next on 7th January.