Four army officers of the ranks of colonel and lieutenant colonel have filed a petition in the Supreme Court alleging that their right to privacy under the Constitution has been violated by military officers who confiscated their mobile phones for espionage investigation and then Three suspended. the basis of morality.
According to the officials’ petition, two of the suspended officers are posted in the Directorate of Military Intelligence (MI) in Delhi, while the third is an instructor at the Defense Services Staff College in Wellington. The fourth officer is posted in Mumbai.
The four officers have claimed that their mobile phones and other personal digital assets were confiscated by Army officials in March on the instructions of the Directorate General of Military Intelligence (DGMI).
According to the petition, it was suspected that a WhatsApp group, called “Patiala Peg”, in which these officers were members, was infiltrated by a Pakistan Intelligence Operative (PIO) to ascertain whether classified information was shared. was done.
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The plea said that the army’s subsequent investigation did not find any espionage links to any of these officers, but three of them were suspended on May 8 for violating the army’s cyber security policy.
suspension order, reviewed by Indian Express, states that the Board of Officers (BOO) examining his digital assets, including mobile phones, found evidence that affected his conduct as officers and gentlemen. As per the orders, the BOO found that some officers were part of a WhatsApp group used for “immoral, immoral (sexual misconduct) activities”.
The suspension order also stated that the officers were part of a WhatsApp group in which foreign nationals were members who did not know the officers personally.
An officer was found using Twitter in violation of existing policy and deleted the chat and exited the group that required a forensic examination of the phone. The three officers were suspended for an initial period of six months.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the petitioners’ counsel Col Amit Kumar (Retd) said that the core issue in the petition is the failure to follow the procedure under CrPC for confiscation and the authorities to commit self-crime through “illegal confiscation”. is to force. their phone.
He also said that the three officers were allegedly suspended without issue of show cause notices. “This is a clear case of breach of confidentiality by coercive forensic examination of his personal information, which may belong to family and friends,” he said.
Responding to a request for comment, an Army official said: “Investigation into the incident of alleged cyber security breach by some serving members of the Indian Army is ongoing. The Indian Army has zero tolerance towards cyber security breaches and the investigation is proceeding as per the prescribed procedure.
In their petition before the top court, the four officers claimed that their phones were illegally confiscated by Army officials – and that they had voluntarily handed over their phones to help in espionage investigations in the “highest traditions” of the Army .
He said that nothing objectionable was found against him in espionage-related activities, he has been “illegally suspended” using personal information “incorrectly obtained” from his phone.
The authorities have said in their petition that it is a common understanding among them that they are ready to hand over their personal digital assets unconditionally, as long as they are assured of their right to privacy.
He has further said in the petition that there is no provision for such seizure in the Army Act or Army Rules and the legal provisions under CrPC for search and seizure have to be followed, but in his case it was not done.
The officers have argued that their fundamental rights have not been protected by the actions of the Army and that their careers and names as incoming officers have been tarnished by their illegal actions by the officers.
The four officers have demanded the court to decide whether the right to life and liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution can be taken away from the army officers without following the rules and procedures and whether the right to privacy is available to them. .