Oppn erupts amid outrage at govt ‘snooping’ powers

New Delhi: The Centre, in a sudden and unprecedented move late on Thursday night, authorised 10 Central agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt all data contained in “any” computer system across India, setting off nationwide outrage, with a virtually united Opposition claiming that the country was moving towards an Orwellian state.

The order signed by Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba said: “The competent authority hereby authorises the following security and intelligence agencies for purposes of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under the said Act (Information Technology Act 2000)”. As the Opposition came down heavily on the government, finance minister Arun Jaitley claimed the Opposition was “creating a mountain out of a molehill” as this order had been issued under old rules. The Central government clarified that the rules for intercepting and monitoring computer data were framed in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA was in power and its new order only notified the designated authority that can carry out such action. In a strong defence of the order, the BJP said it was legal with adequate safeguards and in the interest of national security, dubbing the Opposition’s criticism as a “textbook case” of speaking without doing any homework. The Centre also rejected the Opposition’s charge of “snooping”.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in remarks aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi that converting India into a “police state” would not solve his problems and it only showed that he was an “insecure dictator”. “Converting India into a police state isn’t going to solve your problems, Modi Ji. It’s only going to prove to over 1 billion Indians what an insecure dictator you really are,” Mr Gandhi tweeted. The Congress raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Friday, accusing the government of turning the country into a surveillance state. The order that authorised 10 Central intelligence, security and tax agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt all the data contained in “any” computer system was issued by the cyber and information security division of the Union home ministry. The MHA issued a statement, saying the order was issued to prevent “any unauthorised use of these powers”.

The new order “does not confer any new powers” to any security or law enforcement agency, the statement said, adding “each case” of computer interception, monitoring and decryption was “to be approved by the competent authority, which is the Union home secretary”. The 10 agencies notified under the new order are the Intelligence Bureau, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Central Board of Direct Taxes (for income-tax department), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Research and Analysis Wing, the Directorate of Signal Intelligence (in service areas of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and the Northeast) and the Delhi police commissioner.

The issue of the notification also rocked the Rajya Sabha where Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said an “undeclared Emergency has taken final shape” and that “all federal agencies have been let loose”. Finance minister Arun Jaitley said the authorisation was issued under 2009 rules and dismissed the Opposition’s charge of snooping. Mr Jaitley said the Opposition was playing with national security and “making a mountain where even a molehill doesn’t exist”. Congress leader Anand Sharma said the issue was serious as it was related to fundamental rights and “India will become a police state” with such “sweeping powers” for agencies to intercept information. Responding to the charge, Mr Jaitley said it would have been better if the Opposition had obtained all information before raising this issue. He told the House that the rules under which the agencies will be authorised to intercept information were framed in 2009 when the Congress-led UPA was in power. The proceedings in Parliament were disrupted for the eight consecutive day on Friday over a variety of issues, including the latest snooping row, the Rafale fighter jet deal and the Cauvery dam.