[Plea for guidelines on seizure of digital devices] Supreme Court imposes ₹25,000 costs on Central government for not filing response

The Supreme Court on Thursday imposed costs of ₹25,000 on the Central government for not filing a reply to a plea seeking guidelines for the police on seizure and preservation of personal digital devices. [Ram Ramaswamy and ors v. Union of India].A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka gave the government two weeks to file a reply, but only upon payment of cost, and listed the matter for December 5..The petition was filed by a group of five academicians and researchers - former 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..The petitioners sought guidelines to govern investigating agencies in the country with respect to seizure, examination and preservation of personal digital and electronic devices and their contents.It is their case that the entirely unguided power exercised by investigative agencies to take control of devices that "contain much if not all of a citizen’s personal and professional life, requires to be civilised by way of directives from Supreme Court."The plea states that several persons from whom devices have been seized in various cases in the recent past are from the academic field or authors of repute.It was the petitioners' argument that there is no procedure or guideline stipulated in any law or even in most police manuals to deal with recovery of electronic/digital material, which is distinct from the recovery of other kinds of material.The petitioners emphasised that the copy of what is seized must remain with an accused in a form that cannot be modified. They also adverted to Article 15(1)(c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ratified by India, contending that the same binds State parties to protect the moral and material interest in any scientific, literary or artistic work.If the data and research of such academicians is tampered with or damaged, the loss to research in the sciences and social sciences is considerable and often irreplaceable, the petition adds..The Supreme Court had in August asked the Central government to file a fresh reply to their plea, after finding that its counter-affidavit was incomplete and not satisfactory.The Court had also remarked that many a time, such devices carry personal content or work which need to be protected, since the livelihood of people in academia depended on it.Even as the Central government contended that the plea was not maintainable, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju assured the Court that the government will apply its mind to it..Advocates Ashwath Sitaraman, Prasanna S, Swati Arya and Yuvraj Singh Rathore represented the petitioners..[Read Order]