The Supreme Court on Monday asked telecom service providers to file affidavits specifically stating if they had ever indulged in tapping of telephones on the request of private parties.
Observing that there was an urgent need to reframe the ten-year-old guidelines issued by the Supreme Court on interception of telephones in view of various private telecom companies coming into the field and drastic changes in technology, a bench headed by Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal directed private telecom operators to file their affidavits in three weeks.
The bench also took on record, the statements of Solicitor General G E Vahanvati that the government was considering comprehensive changes in the archaic Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which laid down rules for interception of telephones.
The bench is hearing a petition filed by Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh seeking guidelines to check illegal tapping of phones. The court has already restrained the media from publishing or broadcasting / telecasting illegally tapped telephonic conversations of any person until it comes out with a fresh set of guidelines on the issue.
© 2026