Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the State government to file a counter on the petition filed by Jana Sena Party’s (JSP) Tirupati constituency in-charge K. Kiran Royal, pertaining to the alleged theft of data from his phone and the morphing of his and his family members’ images.
It may be recalled that the Nagari police arrested Mr. Royal on November 11 last year, in view of his ‘serious remarks’ against Minister R.K. Roja at a press conference. The police sought a judicial remand, which was rejected by the First Class Judicial Magistrate, Nagari, citing absence of grounds.
Mr. Royal contended that though his mobile phone was in the court’s possession, it was taken away by the police in an ‘unauthorized’ manner.
He further said that the police authorities threatened to morph and leak his personal photos through third party channels, while claiming that the Nagari police would be held responsible for the theft of data from his phone, if accessed by a third party.
Counsel Umesh Chandra P.V.G, appearing for the petitioner, sought the court’s intervention in preventing the respondents from release of personal information from the ‘stolen mobile device’. He further contended that Article 21 includes Right to Privacy and a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that Right to Informational privacy is inherent in Right to Privacy and the same shall not be allowed to be compromised at the discretion of the executive.
The counsel further stated that if this trend continues in the State, no politician can ever raise issues concerning the general public and therefore this court shall immediately intervene.
While hearing the petition on Tuesday, Justice B.S. Bhanumathi, directed the State to file counters and posted the case to January 9.
