Blanket order to return seized devices to academics under investigation inappropriate: Centre to Supreme Court

The Central government has objected to the return of personal digital and electronic devices belonging to academics, given the sensitivity of the data on such devices and the stage of investigation in those cases. [Ram Ramaswamy v. Union of India].The Centre's reply comes to the petition by a group of academicians and researchers seeking directions to the Central government and states for guidelines to govern investigating agencies with respect to seizure, examination and preservation of personal digital and electronic devices and their contents..The Union has told the Supreme Court that in appropriate cases, accused may be allowed to invoke Section 451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to seek cloned images of the hard drive of the devices which have been seized by the investigating agency.Section 451 CrPC empowers a court to order for custody and disposal of property pending trial in certain cases. .However, the Centre has submitted that considering the exigencies of the investigation and varying degrees of sensitivity of the data in question, it would be inappropriate to pass any blanket order regarding the return of such documents to persons under investigation..The reply states that while the right to privacy exists in all jurisdictions across the world, "the regulation of same through statutory law is permissible and there can be no blanket exclusions.".The petitioners in the case are former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor and researcher, Ram Ramaswamy; Professor at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Sujata Patel; Professor of Cultural Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Madhava Prasad; Professor of Modern Indian history at Jamia Millia Islamia, Mukul Kesavan and theoretical ecological economist Deepak Malghan.They had submitted that the entirely unguided power exercised by investigative agencies to take control of devices that contain a citizen’s personal and professional life, requires to be civilised by way of directives from the Supreme Court..The plea said that several persons from whom the devices have been seized in various cases in the recent past are from the academic field or authors of repute."The academic community does and stores its research and writing in the electronic or digital medium, and the threat of damage, distortion, loss or premature exposure of academic or literary work in the event of seizure of electronic devices is considerable," the petition stated..It was the petitioners' argument that there is no procedure or guideline stipulated in any law or even in most police manuals of a mode appropriate to the recovery of electronic/digital material, which is distinct from the recovery of other kinds of material."The CBDT manual has some reference to this but neither the CBI nor the NIA appear to have any procedural protocol in this regard," the plea said..In response, the government has told the top court that uniform guidelines for all law enforcement agencies could only be issued after a wider consultation with all stakeholders, and that it would be appropriate to take suggestions from all quarters on an issue concerning enforcement of law and investigation of crimes."Considering the federal structure and the entries in the 7th schedule, it would be appropriate to take states in the said consultative process," reads the reply..It is further stated that the apprehensions of the petitioners can be addressed by adherence to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Manual of 2020, which contains provisions dealing with the subject matter."The CBI manual has three separate annexures dealing with seizure of digital evidence, investigation of email related crime and investigation of website related crimes," it is submitted..The Supreme Court had in August asked the Central government to file a fresh reply to the plea by the group of academicians and researchers, stating,"We are not satisfied with the counter-affidavit and we seek a new and proper reply with references to international practices as well..."."File fresh reply:" Supreme Court to Central government on plea by academics for guidelines to govern seizing of personal digital devices