Privacy on Trial: Phone Tapping and WhatsApp Messages as Digital Evidence

Privacy on Trial: Phone Tapping and WhatsApp Messages as Digital Evidence Sidhant Malik Advocate 7011490440 INTRODUCTION The jurisprudence on privacy in India is a study in contradictions. The Nine-judge bench in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017) elevated privacy to the status of a fundamental right under Article 21, recognising it as the very essence of dignity and liberty. Yet, in practice, this constitutional promise is continually diluted by judicial balancing in favour of State interests. Courts have sanctioned phone tapping under the Telegraph Act, admitted WhatsApp chats and electronic records as evidence, and permitted expansive surveillance through Aadhaar and CCTV monitoring, provided it meets the tests of “legality, necessity and proportionality.” Yet, real-world controversies, from the Pegasus spyware revelations to forced disclosure of Aadhaar for basic services, underscore the fragile state of informational autonomy in Indi...