HC to Hear Writ Petition over Eavesdropping on Phone After 2 Week

The writ petition seeking directions to investigate the incidents of eavesdropping on phone will be heard after two weeks.

A virtual High Court division bench comprising Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order on Monday (August 18) in response to a state-level petition.

Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir was in favor of the plaintiffs in the court. Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.

Lawyer Shishir Monir said the court had given the attorney general two weeks to attend the writ hearing.

The writ petition was filed on August 10 by 10 lawyers of the Supreme Court. The Secretary of the Department of Posts and Telecommunications, the Secretary of the Department of Information and Communication Technology, the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission have been named as defendants in the writ petition.

The writ petition has sought directions to investigate the incident by forming a committee to prevent eavesdropping and leaked phone conversations.

Advocate Mustafizur Rahman, Advocate Rezwana Ferdous, Advocate Uttam Kumar Banik, Advocate Shah Navila Kashfi, Advocate Farhad Ahmed Siddiqui, Advocate Mohammad Nawab Ali, Advocate Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, Advocate Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil. Advocate Ekramul Kabir.

The writ petition mentions 20 incidents of eavesdropping from 2013 to 2021 as well as four specific legal arguments in favor of the writ petition. Where it says:

1) According to Section 30 (f) of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act-2001, the responsibility of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission is to ensure the protection of the privacy of the citizens. But the commission has not taken any effective steps in this regard.

2) According to Article 43 (b) of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, 'protection of the citizen's home and communication' is an important fundamental right. But the Commission has not taken any effective steps to comply with the provisions of this article of the Constitution.

3) Despite giving legal notice to the commission by presenting the information of leaking at least 20 incidents, the commission did not give any reply within a reasonable time.

4) Eavesdropping is a punishable offense under Section 61 of the Telecommunications Regulation Act-2001. Where the guilty person will be sentenced to two years imprisonment or a fine not exceeding 5 crore taka or both. But to date, the commission has not filed any case against anyone on its own initiative.

Earlier, on June 22, 10 lawyers sent a legal notice to the concerned authorities seeking information on the steps were taken by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in accordance with the law to prevent eavesdropping on phone conversations. The writ petition was filed in the concerned branch of the High Court as they didn't get any reply to the notice.