In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has upheld the legality of intercepting phone calls in large-scale corruption cases, stating that such acts meet the “public safety” threshold under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885.
The Court was hearing a plea filed by Aakash Deep Chouhan, who had challenged a trial court order framing charges against him under criminal conspiracy and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The charges were related to an alleged attempt to secure a sub-contract from construction major Shapoorji Pallonji in connection with the ₹2,149.93 crore Pragati Maidan redevelopment project.
Justice Amit Mahajan, while dismissing the plea, noted that although not all corruption cases can be considered threats to public safety, the scale of economic offences in this case justified the interception.
“Although it cannot be generalized that all allegations in relation to corruption would have the capacity of influencing the public at large, the allegations herein don’t relate to a trivial project but one that was awarded for ₹2149.93 crores… The economic scale of the offence, in the opinion of this Court, satisfies the threshold of ‘public safety’,” the Court observed.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had intercepted several calls involving the accused, which helped establish the conspiracy. The High Court ruled that the interception was justified given the magnitude of the project and the alleged influence involved.
Advocates Vaibhav Dubey, Kumar Vaibhav, Gautam Khazanchi, and Mohd Ashaab appeared for the accused, while the CBI was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Ravi Sharma and others. The Central government was represented by CGSC Ripudaman Bhardwaj and his team.
The ruling reinforces the legal backing for surveillance measures in cases where corruption threatens public resources on a significant scale.
Case: Aakash Deep Chouhan vs CBI & Anr – Available on LAWFYI.IO
