Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party National President N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday alleged that the YSR Congress Party led by CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy was resorting to massive phone tapping to perpetrate and foist their 'Jungle Raj' on all sections of people in the state.
Raising these concerns, Naidu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an inquiry by a competent authority of the Government of India into the alleged massive tapping of phones in Andhra Pradesh. The Centre should take stringent action so as to prevent the Jagan Reddy-led Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), and some private persons from resorting to such illegal activities that pose a threat to national security, he said.
In a letter to PM Modi, Naidu said that the ruling party in AP and private individuals were using sophisticated technology and illegal software to tap phones of Opposition leaders, advocates, journalists and social activists.
This was a violation of the Articles 19 and 21 that provide for fundamental rights of citizens, the letter said. It added that YSRCP was using illegal tactics to protect and preserve its power by intimidating and blackmailing opponents and dissenting voices and that these illegal activities were posing a serious threat to the right to privacy in the State.
Naidu told Modi that even private individuals were using cutting edge technology and equipment to unlawfully tap phones. He said if the "nefarious" activities were not put to an end, they would proliferate and emerge as a bigger threat to national security and sovereignty of the country as a whole.
"If the Governments and private persons involved in such illegal activities are not restrained, they will attack and undermine the democratic institutions that were painstakingly built over decades of hard work in the country," he said.
Stating that the YSRCP was already misusing its power to destroy institutions, Naidu said systematic efforts were being made to deny fundamental rights and perpetrate oppression. As a result, the overall administration went off-track in the state, due to ongoing attacks in investments and pro-people policies.
As per the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 (Sec 5 (2)) and Information Technology Act 2000 (Sec 69), phone tapping is to be strictly used only in times of a threat to national security, country's sovereignty, national integration or when friendly relations with foreign countries are under threat.
Naidu told Modi many Constitutional institutions were under attack in the state since the YSRCP came to power. He said systematic attacks were made on the State Election Commission (SEC), AP Public Service Commission (APPSC) and other institutions. Threats were being meted out to opposition leaders, advocates, media, social activists and all those who raised a dissenting voice against the ruling party's excesses, he added.
Comments
0 comment