HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday questioned the inclusion of governmental agencies like Central Bureau of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in the Centre’s roster for institutions which has authority to intercept, monitor and decrypt all the data contained in any computer system.
Taking to Twitter, Owaisi said, “The new farmaan issued by Badshah in Delhi includes CBDT in the list of agencies authorised to snoop on us. Sec 69 states that only in case of certain crimes can such authorization be granted. Tax evasion is not one of them. So, why CBDT? & why now?”
He also criticised the move by pointing out that the RAW was an external agency. “..why does it (RAW) need to snoop on Indian citizens? Secondly, what’s the reason one has included Army in this notification? This is as obscure as this govt can get.” Calling it a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, the Hyderabad MP said, “According to Article 14, decisions require an application of mind & non-arbitrariness in decision-making. How many of these orders meet this basic criteria? This notification now permits access to your data from a time when snooping approval wasn’t there.”
He called for a “higher standard of judicial scrutiny” in the case of privacy and surveillance-related matters. “Furthermore, parliamentary oversight of executive decision-making is necessary if one is to safeguard citizens’ privacy & constitutional rights,” he added.