Tapping phone lines or recording calls without consent violates individuals' privacy - Delhi HC

Case: Sanjay Pandey v Directorate of Enforcement

Delhi High Court observed on Thursday that tapping phone lines or recording calls without consent violates individuals' privacy.

According to Justice Jasmeet Singh, the right to privacy guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution prohibits telephone conversations from being recorded without consent.

Justice Singh cited the Supreme Court's judgment in KS Puttaswamy v Union Of India as evidence that privacy is an inalienable right and a prerequisite to exercising the right to freedom.

The above observations were made in the order granting bail to Sanjay Pandey, a former Mumbai Police chief in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Pandey's company, iSec Services Private Ltd, had recorded phone calls with employees of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), according to a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

MTNL phones were allegedly illegally tapped in violation of the Telegraph Act, several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Information Technology Act.

It was held by Justice Singh when granting bail for Pandey, that these prima facie violations of the Telegraph Act do not constitute an offense under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, even though the NSE and iSec ignored privacy and consent when recording calls.