Phone tapping: SC notices to Amar, Centre

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and the Centre on a plea seeking vacation of its stay on the publication and broadcast of the controversial telephonic conversations between Singh and some politicians and Bollywood stars.

An NGO, Centre For PIL, had moved the court seeking lifting of the stay order which was passed be then Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal in 2006. A bench comprising Justice GS Singhvi and Justice AK Ganguly issued notices after allowing the petitioner NGO as a party in the case in the larger public interest. The court, after a brief hearing, adjourned the case for February 1. The conversations were allegedly tapped illegally by a private service provider on a forged authorisation. The NGO, while pleading removal of the gag order, contended that the way of recording such conversations may not be proper but if the conversations revealed illegal and shady deals then it was in public interest to expose these.

Terming the unauthorised tapping of telephone of any person as a “very serious matter affecting the privacy of an individual,” the apex court had on February 27, 2006, passed the stay order against the media from publication and telecast of contents of tapped conversations. The court had also issued notices to eight telephone companies, both in the public and private sector, to make them parties to a petition by Amar Singh, raising the issue of tapping of his phone “illegally”on two forged letters of Delhi government home secretary and a joint commissioner (crime), Delhi Police.