(REOPENS DES 29)

Out of 789 telephones tapped by CID upto 2011, the permission for tapping the telephone from competent authority was taken only in 34 cases, an official spokesman said. The phones tapped by vigilance and anti-corruption departments are not included in these telephones, he said. A just-concluded inquiry of the State Forensic Science Laboratory found the previous government, in violation of the Indian Telegraph Act, had recorded telephonic conversations of politicians, bureaucrats and other high-ranking people, he added. "Today I got the (Forensic lab) report and have told my officials to look into that in how many cases the calls were recorded without prior approval of competent authority and in violation of norms," Singh, who started his record sixth stint as chief minister on December 25, said. Refusing to divulge the names of people whose phones were kept under surveillance, Singh said there was intrusion in privacy of some politicians and the huge number of telephone allegedly tapped by the government indicated that phone taping was done with malafide intentions and all these aspects were being looked into.