Summary:
ALLAHABAD: Amid debate over Central government granting "snooping' rights to 10 agencies, the Allahabad high court on Friday directed the Centre to file its reply on or before February 1 in response to a PIL challenging the validity of Section 69 of the Information and Technology Act, 2000 which, according to the PIL, gives sweeping powers to the government to intercept or monitor or decrypt any information through computer resource.Hearing a PIL filed by one Saurabh Pandey, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Govind Mathur and Justice C D Singh directed the Centre to file the reply through the secretaries of home affairs and ministry of law and justice and others and fixed February 1 as the next date of hearing.The main ground of attack while challenging the constitutional validity of Section 69 was that it is violative of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution, as being arbitrary for the reason that it gives sweeping power to the executive.The petitioner, who appeared in person before the court, further contended that "Section 69 is also violative of Article 19(1)(a) (right to freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution, as it gives arbitrary power to the government to intercept or monitor or decrypt any information through any computer resource".However, during the court proceedings, assistant solicitor general of India Gyan Prakash, who represented the Central government, opposed the PIL, saying "this petition is not maintainable as the petitioner has not disclosed the credentials and the requirements for its filing which is required under chapter 22 of the rules of the court".The court, however, rejected the ASGI's submission and entertained the PIL, saying that the High Court can refuse the technical objections while exercising the power under Article 226 of the Constitution, which provides writ jurisdiction and power to high courts to issue writs for the enforcement of fundamental rights or any other legal right..