- Senior IPS officer of Chhattisgarh told the court- the government tapped the phone of mine and my two daughters
- Chhattisgarh government said – Gupta was trying to avoid arrest in two cases, so the phone was tapped
The Supreme Court on Monday expressed concern over the tapping of the senior IPS officer’s phone by the Chhattisgarh government. The Supreme Court said that no privacy has left. What is happening in this country? The court wondered whether someone’s privacy could be violated in this way.
The court asked the Chhattisgarh government who ordered tapping the phones of senior police officer Mukesh Gupta and his family members. The court asked what was the reason behind the move.
Chhattisgarh government directed to file reply
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and Justice Indira Banerjee asked the Chhattisgarh government whether the phone could be tapped to locate a person. Something is happening every day. What is the need of it? There is no privacy left for anyone. Who gave this order, you file affidavit.
Court prohibits arrest of IPS Gupta
IPS Gupta alleged that he and his two daughters’ phones were tapped. The state government replied that Gupta’s phone was tapped because there were two cases registered against him and he was trying to avoid arrest in them. The government denied the charge of tapping the daughters’ phones.
The court then directed the government not to tap the phones of Gupta and his family members and also prevented Gupta’s arrest. However, the court rejected the demand to quash the FIR lodged against Gupta.
Court said – the case should not be given political color
On behalf of Gupta, senior lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said – Chhattisgarh police came to arrest the IPS officer. His lawyer Ravi Sharma asked the police in which case this arrest was being made. On this, the bench said that as a lawyer, he has every right to know under which section of the law his client is being arrested.
No investigation should be conducted against the lawyer now and there should be no punitive action against him. The court also said that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s name should not be used to give a political color to this case.