Committee Constituted To Frame Guidelines For Seizure Of Digital Devices : Centre Tells Supreme Court

The Central Government on Wednesday (December 6) told the Supreme Court that a committee has been constituted to look into the framing of guidelines regarding seizure of digital devices by investigation agencies. Upon the assurance of the Additional Solicitor General of India that the process will be expedited, the Supreme Court adjourned until December 14 the hearing of pleas raising concerns over the arbitrary seizure of media professionals' digital devices.Previously, the Court had told the Centre that better guidelines are needed to protect the privacy and freedom of media professionals.A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Foundation for Media Professionals through Advocate-on-Record Rahul Narayan urging the court to establish safeguards against unreasonable interference by law enforcement agencies and create comprehensive guidelines for search and seizure of digital devices.On the last occasion, Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for the petitioner, attempted to underscore the seriousness of the issues raised in the petition and the threats that law enforcement agency's unmitigated search and seizure powers posed to constitutional guarantees. In response, Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju insisted that there were provisions, which, among other things, allowed a person whose digital devices have been seized to back up their data. The court, however, expressed concerns over the arbitrary seizure of media professionals' digital devices and stressed the need for better guidelines to protect their interests. Justice Kaul said, "I'm finding it very difficult to accept some kind of all-within power that the agencies have...This is very dangerous. You must have better guidelines."Two days after the top court expressed its concerns over arbitrary seizures, in a related development, it heard another public interest litigation petition filed by five academicians seeking seeking guidelines for the seizure of personal electronic devices by investigating agencies. In this case, the academicians drafted a set of guidelines and submitted them to the court, which then asked Senior Advocate Nithya Ramakrishnan to circulate the guideines to the union and state governments. The hearing today was adjourned on the additional solicitor-general's request. Seeking more time to come up with the guidelines as directed by the court on the last occasion, the law officer told the bench, "We are positive that there will be some guidelines. It's just that over the last ten days, I have been unwell. They may give their suggestions, we'll consider them and come up with something."Disapproving, the bench called for a timeframe to be followed, especially in view of notice being issued in one of the cases in 2021. "Two years have passed, Mr Raju!" Justice Kaul exclaimed. "You may keep it next week. A committee has been constituted, I'll try to expedite the process," ASG Raju assured the bench, which agreed to eventually adjourn the hearing until December 14. On Ramakrishnan's insistence, it also observed in its order that suggestions from both sides were already on record. She told the court today, "Invariably, there must be a warrant. Second, the expanse of information on digital devices is such, the State should not access everything but only whatever is absolutely required. I have explained what the position is in the United States, in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere."The senior counsel also expressed her reservations about the union government's request for more time, saying, "300 devices have been seized from 90 journalists following the NewsClick case. They have been stymied. They cannot work...It's an assault on press freedom and academic freedom. They want to continue doing this, which is why the delay..."Responding to this, Justice Kaul said, "For a change, they have said next week."When ASG Raju once again provided assurance that he would push for the process of formulating guidelines to be expedited, the judge said, "There's an old phraseology in Hindi...Umeed pe duniya kayam hain."BackgroundThe Foundation for Media Professionals, a society of journalists, has highlighted the increasing reliance on personal digital devices by its members for their journalistic work, which often involves handling “confidential information of public value, private correspondence with sources and whistle-blowers, and remote collaboration to break news stories in the public interest”. Therefore, the society, it has been argued, has a specific interest in advocating for adequate legal safeguards for the right to privacy in the digital space.In its writ petition, the foundation has underscored the inadequacy of existing laws, originally designed for physical searches and seizures, to address the complex challenges posed by digital spaces. These provisions in various legislative enactments regulating the power of law enforcement agencies to compel the...

Committee Constituted To Frame Guidelines For Seizure Of Digital Devices : Centre Tells Supreme Court

Awstika Das

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