Congress may move court against Center's decision on snooping: Singhvi

Criticising Centre's decision to allow 10 intelligence and investigating agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt any information on computers, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday said the party may move court against the MHA order.

Terming the BJP-led Central government as a government of "snooping and surveillance", the senior Congress leader claimed the order to be a direct interference into people's privacy.

"We have now a privacy judgement. Can you give the power to 10 agencies to simply snoop on you? As it is, there are several illegal technological methods to snoop on people, now such things are being given a legal power. We can say that we are going to study it. We will oppose it and, if necessary, we will go to court," Singhvi told reporters here.

"We have said that this government is a government of snooping, surveillance and undercover activities. This government does wrong things secretly in the dark of nights. This move by the government symbolises that," he said.

When asked whether his move to represent the West Bengal government in the Calcutta High Court in the case of BJP's Rath Yatra can be seen as a conflict of interest for his party that is fighting against the state's ruling Trinamool Congress, Singhvi said, "Not at the least. Those who think opposing a Rath yatra with highly provocative, inflammatory overtones is a disservice to the Congress are doing a disservice to the Congress themselves."

Singhvi's decision to represent the state government in the division bench of the High Court, which saw the previous court order allowing the BJP's rally crushed, led to protest demonstration by a section of Congress workers outside the court.

--IANS

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