(a) whether over 9000 phones are tapped every month
in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether Indian Telegraph Rules 1951 allows lawful
interception of phones under unavoidable circumstances;
(d) if so, the details thereof and whether these unavoi-
dable circumstances have not been defined so far; and
(e) if so, the reasons therefor and the action taken by
the Government in this regard?
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ANSWER
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THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) & (b) Madam, on an average 5000 interception orders per
month are issued by the Union Home Secretary on the requests
supported by justified grounds/ reasons made by Law Enfor-
cement Agencies.
(c) to (e) The interception of telephone conversation is
done by Law Enforcement Agencies as per the provisions
contained in the Section 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act,
1885 read with of Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951 amended
from time to time. The Rule 419A of Indian Telegraph
Rules allows lawful interception of phones under unavoi-
dable circumstances. In unavoidable circumstances, such
order may be made by an officer, not below the rank of
Joint Secretary to the Government of India, who has been
duly authorized by the Union Home Secretary or the State
Home Secretary, as the case may be:
PROVIDED that in emergent cases:
(i) in remote areas, where obtaining of prior direction
for interception of message or class of messages is not
feasible; or
(ii) for operational reasons, where obtaining of prior
directions for interception of messages or class of
message is not feasible;
The required interception of any message or class of
messages shall be carried out with the prior approval
of the head or second senior most officer of the autho-
rized security i.e. Law Enforcement agency at the central
level and the officers authorized in this behalf, not below
the rank of Inspector General of Police, at the state level
but the concerned competent authority shall be informed of
such interceptions by the approving authority within three
working days and that such interceptions shall be got
confirmed by the concerned competent authority within a
period of seven working days. If the confirmation from the
competent authority is not received within the stipulated
7 days, such interception shall cease and the same message
or the class of messages shall not be intercepted thereafter
without the prior approval of Union Home Secretary or the
State Home Secretary, as the case may be.
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