The Supreme Court will hear the petition on WhatsApp and it’s privacy policy on April 27..The petition, filed by Karmanya Singh Sareen against a Delhi High Court judgment, prays for a writ of mandamus for the protection of privacy of data exchanged via WhatsApp and other instant messaging applications..Today, the matter was heard by a five-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, AK Sikri, Amitava Roy, AM Khanwilkar, and M Shantanagoudar..Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for the petitioner, assailed the privacy policy of the applications in question, detailing the ways in which sensitive information was leaked to third parties, often without the knowledge of the user..It was a submission that was met with vehement opposition by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who insisted that his submission be recorded on account of the consequential damage to WhatsApp’s reputation..“No part of data shared between two individuals on WhatsApp is shared with any third party, and Mr. Salve’s submissions are factually incorrect.”.Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi only briefly noted that the Centre was in the process of drafting a full-length policy for the protection of data. He also requested the Court to defer the case for a couple of weeks so that the government’s stand would be better understood..However, the Court seemed inclined to take up the matter sooner, and proceeded to list it for April 27. Questions of law related to the matter are expected to be submitted by the parties for consideration by April 24..On the last date of hearing, a Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud had referred the matter to a Constitution Bench..In addition to the main question of law, the Bench will also be delving into the issue of whether the matter should have been referred to a Constitution Bench in the first place..Interestingly, despite Justice Khehar’s insistence that Salve be personally present to argue the case, the latter did not seem quite so sure about his availability, noting that “some senior counsel will be present”..Read Order
The Supreme Court will hear the petition on WhatsApp and it’s privacy policy on April 27..The petition, filed by Karmanya Singh Sareen against a Delhi High Court judgment, prays for a writ of mandamus for the protection of privacy of data exchanged via WhatsApp and other instant messaging applications..Today, the matter was heard by a five-judge bench of Justices Dipak Misra, AK Sikri, Amitava Roy, AM Khanwilkar, and M Shantanagoudar..Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for the petitioner, assailed the privacy policy of the applications in question, detailing the ways in which sensitive information was leaked to third parties, often without the knowledge of the user..It was a submission that was met with vehement opposition by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who insisted that his submission be recorded on account of the consequential damage to WhatsApp’s reputation..“No part of data shared between two individuals on WhatsApp is shared with any third party, and Mr. Salve’s submissions are factually incorrect.”.Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi only briefly noted that the Centre was in the process of drafting a full-length policy for the protection of data. He also requested the Court to defer the case for a couple of weeks so that the government’s stand would be better understood..However, the Court seemed inclined to take up the matter sooner, and proceeded to list it for April 27. Questions of law related to the matter are expected to be submitted by the parties for consideration by April 24..On the last date of hearing, a Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud had referred the matter to a Constitution Bench..In addition to the main question of law, the Bench will also be delving into the issue of whether the matter should have been referred to a Constitution Bench in the first place..Interestingly, despite Justice Khehar’s insistence that Salve be personally present to argue the case, the latter did not seem quite so sure about his availability, noting that “some senior counsel will be present”..Read Order
