The High Court has served notices to 16 respondents in the case pertaining to the alleged tapping of phones belonging to VVIPs, including some Judges.
The recipients of notices in the Central government are Principal Secretaries of the Departments of Telecommunications, Information Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Home Affairs, Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.
Officers in the State government to whom notices were served are the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Home) and the Director-General of Police.
The other recipients are the Director of CBI and CBI Superintendent in Visakhapatnam, CEOs of BSNL, Vodafone-Idea, Airtel and Reliance Jio Infocomm and the Internet Service Providers Association of India.
According to petitioner's counsel J. Sravan Kumar, the respondents had to make their position clear on the alleged tapping of phones of a host of VVIPs consisting of some High Court judges.
The tapping of phones cannot be done except as per the procedures laid down in the Telegraph Act, 1885. The tapping/surveillance should be in compliance with the guidelines mandated by the Supreme Court and Articles 14, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
