Plea in Kerala HC Against Collection Of Call Detail Records Of Covid Patients By Kerala Govt. [Read Petition]

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala has moved the High Court seeking to restrain the Police from collecting the Call Detail Records of COVID-19 patients/ suspects. The writ petition filed through Advocate T. Asaf Ali, challenges a Circular dated August 11, 2020, issued by the Kerala State Police Chief, which enables the department to collect CDRs of Covid patients, from BSNL and Vodafone, for contact tracing. It highlights that the Circular is drafted in a "deceptive manner" without even disclosing the purpose of collecting CDRs, whereas tower location of the mobiles of the COVID-19 positive patients would serve the purpose of contact tracing and no CDR details are necessary for the same. "It is trite law that either the 1st Respondent or any of its officials have no right or authority to collect CDRs of the COVID-19 pandemic positive patients, who are in quarantine either at their residence or elsewhere, whose right of privacy guaranteed by the Constitution would be suffered by them following the breach of confidentiality," the plea states. "It is very pertinent to note that CDRs will be permitted to collect in connection with the investigation of grave nature of criminal cases in which threat to national security issues, financial crimes and other similar nature of crimes affecting national security are allowed only after obtaining permission from Home Department subject to review by the Review Committee constituted under Rule 16 of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 2007," he has submitted.