Police Officials' Privacy Taken Care Of By SC: Punjab & Haryana HC Directs Preservation Of Call Records In Alleged Illegal Arrest Case

Observing that "security and privacy" of police officials has been taken care of by the Supreme Court in  Suresh Kumar vs. Union of India, the Punjab & Haryana High Court directed the preservation of relevant call records of police officials after the accused moved a plea claiming he had been falsely implicated in an NDPS case.

Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj referring to Suresh Kumar case said, "security and privacy of the police officials investigating he case has been taken care of. The call records as sought to be preserved by the petitioner is to prove his innocence. Hence, keeping in view the ratio of law as held by Hon'ble Supreme Court in Suresh Kumar's case (supra), the present petition is allowed and the order dated 08.05.2024 is set aside."

However, the judge added that, the other record of call details pertaining to officials, which is not relevant for determining the location of the concerned police officials, is not to be provided to the petitioner

The Court was hearing a revision plea against the order of a Sessions Court which dismissed the plea of the petitioner under Section 91 Cr.P.C. to preserve call details of police officers.

It was submitted that the petitioner, a taxi driver had been falsely implicated in a NDPS case. The petitioner filed an application under Section 91 Cr.P.C. for directing the Telecom Agencies through Investigating Officer to preserve the CDRs and tower locations of mobile numbers of raiding team, special officer in whose presence the alleged contraband was recovered.

Counsel for the petitioner added that he was "illegally arrested" in the present case, as at the relevant time, he was in his hometown and not at the place from where his arrest was shown by the prosecution.

After hearing the submissions, the Court said that the perusal of the trial court's order would show that the application has been declined primarily on the ground that preserving the call details of the raiding party would expose and put life of the Investigators to risk and it would breach the privacy of the police officials.

The Court relied on Suresh Kumar's case wherein the Apex Court said that "the matter inasmuch as while the call details demanded by the appellant can be summoned in terms of Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act such details being relevant only to the extent of determining the location of officers concerned need not contain other information concerning such calls received or made from the telephone numbers concerned."

The Supreme Court had suggested in the case that if the mobile telephone numbers called or details of the callers are blacked out of the information summoned from the companies concerned it will protect the respondent against any possible prejudice in terms of exposure of sources of information available to the Bureau.

In the light of the above, the Court allowed the plea and said that record of the calls which is relevant for the just decision of the case would be used during the trial and not the record which has no relevancy or put the privacy of the police officials at risk.

Mr. Sandeep Saini, Advocate, for the petitioner.

Mr. Kirpal Singh Thakur, AAG, Haryana.

Title: Sanjiv Kumar v. State of Haryana

Click here to read/download the order