New Delhi: The Honourable Supreme Court of India, on Thursday, has pointed the fact of extracting personal information and intercepting calls by use of several software packages in the Mobile handsets. Resultantly, the Court sought responses from the Central Government on the issue that how all such systems were allowed as against the law and in contravention thereof.
The Apex Court has issued notices to Government of Madhya Pradesh, Anti- Terrorist Squad, Telecom Department, Special Task Force, Military Intelligence’s Director-general and also to the Central Bureau of Investigation- CBI. The said notices were issued in relation to the Petition filed by MPPEB scam Whistleblower, Mr. Prashant Pandey, where he has alleged that there was use of Unauthorized Software, which his being against law, by the State police in order to extract details from individuals.
It is mentioned in the said Petition being Public Interest Litigation- PIL filed by Mr. Pandey, that there is a Technology Company, Spundan – The IT Pluse, based in Indore, to which around four thousands of Police officials from the State of Madhya Pradesh are paying around five thousands rupees for every months, in relation to such systems for intercepting calls and generating call details and records (CDRs) of any individual concerned. It is also contained in the Petition that the headquarters of such Company are located in the United States- US.
As per Mr. Pandey, there are the programs of the said Company beign CRA 1 and CRA II programs which are helping those police personnel for collecting Subscriber’s details, his directory of telecom service provider Companies, subscriber enrolment forms which were submitted to the Telecom companies, transmitter identities of Mobile handsets towers with latitude and longitude.
The Petitioner also sought inquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation- CBI into the said acts of Police personnel of the State of Madhya Pradesh and also it was claimed that there should be ban on such Software. He further, contended that such Software are easily available and as such can also be ill-used in relation to any activities being illegal. And as it the concern of Nation Security and Privacy matters of Citizens in India, the said Software to be blocked or banned by the Court, he sought.
by Faim Khalilkhan Pathan.