If devices like mobile, laptop are seized for investigation, then agencies will not be able to see private chats, government is making rules.

New Delhi : Central investigating agencies will not be able to see the private chats of seized devices like mobiles, laptops etc. seized in connection with the investigation of the case. The Central Government is formulating a common guideline for the seizure and management of documents by investigating agencies in digital or paper form in connection with their investigations. Meanwhile, there are indications that the focus is on ways to keep personal chats and documents unrelated to the alleged crimes out of the scope of the investigation.

Supreme Court had banned

The Supreme Court recently blocked the recovery of all digital records, whether related or unrelated to the alleged crime, from the iPhone of lottery king Santiago Martin. It was seized along with unaccounted cash worth Rs 12 crore by the ED during searches at his/her premises in November. Martin had moved the apex court to stop the central agency from recovering the digital records. It was argued that his/her iPhone contained personal chats unrelated to the money laundering investigation against him/her.

In a relief to Martin, the SC heard his/her case along with the case filed by Amazon, which is scheduled to be heard on January 6. Meanwhile, the government is likely to disclose the steps taken to formulate guidelines on seizure of digital and other records during search and survey operations.

Concern about privacy violation

This is expected to address concerns of privacy violation by keeping personal chats out. This is something that has often been the basis for stalling investigations in various jurisdictions. The agencies argue that in the Internet age, when criminals use electronic devices to transmit messages and store documents related to their illegal activities, the government and the court should not ignore their operation requirements.

Amazon also challenged ED’s demand

Amazon has also challenged the ED’s demand for copies of all its emails with its vendors in connection with the ongoing investigation related to foreign direct investment (FDI) in violation of FEMA rules. On November 7, ED had searched 19 premises of main sellers of Amazon and Flipkart in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Panchkula in the FEMA violation case.

The investigation against the e-commerce giants aims to find out whether they participated in predatory pricing in violation of FDI rules through their preferred sellers and directly or indirectly fixed the selling prices of goods or services on their platforms. and did not provide a level playing field to other sellers.

The agency has recovered a lot of documents from sellers of the e-commerce giants. These prima facie reveal an alleged attempt to influence the pricing of goods sold through preferred vendors. Sources said this evidence would be corroborated by the communication made by e-sellers with their sellers.