Urban Mirror Correspondent
New Delhi, December 22: The Lok Gathbandhan Party (LGP) today criticised NDA government for authorising intelligence and other investigative agencies for snooping into citizens digital life. The LGP said it is absolutely unconstitutional and a gross violation of individual freedom.
The spokesman of the party, headed by former Secretary Government of India Vijay Shankar Pandey, said here on Saturday that launching of complete surveillance system without any option for the safeguard is a direct interference in individual privacy which cannot be tolerated. Pointing out that the authorisation is an attack on democratic norms, the spokesman said decision to empower 10 investigation agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information transmitted or stored in any computer would certainly lead to harassment of the people in the name of national security. The spokesman said digital tapping without any judicial control will be injurious to democratic system and lead to dictatorial behaviour of the government authorities. The spokesman said the government’s argument that it would be done after permission from the a high-powered committee is lopsided as the police have been doing tapping without such permission for a long time.
The spokesman said the decision is also in violation of Supreme Court judgement on individual privacy and the issue was also cropped in controversial Aadhar case. The spokesman said any information could cover anything from Facebook profiles to WhatsApp messages to Twitter. The spokesman said the government has authority to ensure national security through various means including interception of digital data of suspicious people but this cannot be applied on common man to harass him for political purpose. The spokesman said the decision is not without political motive in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha election as the NDA has been feeling quite shaky after rout in recently-held assembly elections in five states. The spokesman said instead of effectively stopping circulation of fake news through various digital platforms which has created major law and order problems in several parts of the state the NDA government has been trying to curb voice of sanity in the country through these measures.
