Intercepting calls to prevent corruption is legal: Delhi high court
₹ 2,149.93 crore project. (HT Archive)
Justice Amit Mahajan delivered the ruling in a plea filed by a man accused of bribery involving a ₹2,149.93 crore project, who sought the destruction of telephonic calls/messages intercepted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Akash Deep Chauhan, the petitioner, said that the case against him was based on calls which were intercepted illegally in contravention of Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act, which permits the same in cases of public emergency or in the interest of public safety. Chauhan said that such recordings had prejudiced the case against him and that unlawfully obtained call recordings could not be used to incriminate him.
CBI said that the calls were legally intercepted in the interest of public order to prevent the commission of an offence involving a ₹2,149.93 crore project.
Agreeing with CBI's submission and refusing to quash the same, the court in its June 26 ruling said, 'Although it cannot be generalised that all allegations in relation to corruption would have the capacity of influencing the public at large, the allegations herein don't relate to a trivial project but one that was awarded for ₹2,149.93 crore where the work sought by way of influence would have been of a substantial sum as well. The economic scale of the offence, in the opinion of this court, satisfies the threshold of 'public safety'.'
The court ruled that the interception orders passed by the Union home ministry were passed for reasons of public safety in the interest of public order to prevent incitement to the commission of an offence and were carried out in accordance with law.
In his ruling released later, the judge also underscored the impact of corruption by public servants on the country. 'Corruption by a public servant has far reaching consequences as it serves to not only erode public trust and cast aspersions on the integrity of public institutions, but also renders the public at large susceptible and vulnerable by threatening the economic safety of the country.'
In his petition, Chauhan had also sought to set aside a city court's order framing charges under Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (bribing a public servant to obtain or retain business or other advantages) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) for involvement in an alleged case of bribery.
CBI had alleged that Chauhan was an employee of a company, M/s Capacite Structures Limited, which had conspired to secure a subcontract for steel work from M/S Shapoorji Pallonji in a ₹2,149.93 project awarded to it by NBCC (India) Limited, by bribing a government official. The public servant had allegedly demanded a new motorcycle as illegal gratification and the man had allegedly purchased the bike that had to be given as a bribe.
Chauhan said that the material brought forth by CBI, including the calls, did not make out a case of grave suspicion and he was merely an employee who was acting on instructions.
However, the court refused to set aside the order, stating that the material on record cast grave suspicion against him and pointed towards his participation in the transfer of the bribe despite knowing about the nature of the transaction. 'The allegations are grave in nature and, if proven, would render dubious the entire process of awarding of tenders and bids on the basis of personal influence with senior officers rather than benefit of the public at large,' the court said.
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