Kejriwal slams Centre over snooping powers to agencies

Alleging India has come under "undeclared emergency", Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday slammed the government's move to authorise 10 Central agencies to intercept "any information" on computers.

The order authorises 10 Central agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate to intercept, monitor, and decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer.

"India has been under undeclared emergency since May 2014, now in its last couple of months Modi govt is crossing all limits by seeking control of even the citizens computers. Can such curtailment of fundamental rights be tolerated in world's largest democracy?" Kejriwal said in a tweet.

The AAP MPs also joined the opposition in the Parliament over the issue and attacked the government in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, terming it's move as "unconstitutional".

"Can such kind of curtailment of rights be tolerated in a democracy? It is not hidden from anyone that the BJP has misused all the government institutions of the country for its political advantage.

"Whether it is the RBI, the CBI, the ACB or other government institutions in the country. The BJP has misled these institutions for its personal benefit," AAP alleged in a statement.

"The Aam Aadmi Party believes that these instructions implemented by the BJP are unconstitutional," it added.

Defending the order, the government said the authorisation was given under 2009 rules and that the opposition was playing with the national security by "making a mountain where even a molehill doesn't exist". On its part, the BJP said it is legal with adequate safeguards and dubbed the opposition's criticism as a "text book case" of speaking without any homework.