Blog: Telecom Bill 2022 ( Draft )

Context :

Dear Shri Vaishnawji,

I welcome the exemption granted to :

‘press messages that are intended to be published in India’ of correspondents

accredited to the central or state government from interception."

And the provision of over-riding this exemption to carry out " State Surveillance

" , when it is a question of :

“The exemption will not be granted in case of :

# any public emergency or

# in the interest of public safety,

# sovereignty , integrity or security of India,

# friendly relations with foreign states ,

# public order, or

# to prevent incitement to an offence,” ………….the draft said.

In such cases “,

# any message or class of messages,

# to or from any person or class of persons ,

# or relating to any particular subject,

# brought for transmission by, or transmitted or received by, any

telecommunication services, or telecommunication network,

- shall not be transmitted, or shall be intercepted or detained, or disclosed to the

authorized officer "

In simple English language :

" Under certain circumstances, Government retains its right to carry out

surveillance of persons ( Indian Citizen ) - by AUTHORIZED officer "

I agree with you that right to " Freedom of Expression " cannot be absolute. It has

to be viewed / interpreted in the context of " National / Societal safety and

security "

On other hand, I hope you will agree that a citizen has a right to privacy -

especially in respect of messages exchanged with friends-colleagues-contacts-

business associates etc. - all of which, nowadays , use telecom or internet

In order to " balance " these needs ( of an individual and of the State ), I urge

you to consider my following suggestion , earlier sent as email :

Ø Who watches the Watchmen ?................[ 12 Jan 2019 ]

with regards,

hemen parekh

Wednesday, 21 September 2022