Right to Privacy: ‘Can courts order an accused to share his geo-location with police as part of bail conditions?’

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, October 3

Can an accused be ordered to share his geo-location from his mobile phone to enable investigators to track his movement while on bail?

Noting that prima facie it violated the right to privacy of the accused enlarged on bail, the Supreme Court on Tuesday decided to examine if such a bail condition went against the Supreme Court’s 2017 verdict in the KS Puttaswamy case declaring the right to privacy a fundamental right.

“You must explain to us the practical effect of such a condition. Once a person is set at liberty, certain conditions are imposed. But here you are tracking the movement after grant of bail… Isn’t it violative of the right to privacy?” asked the Bench which also included Justice Pankaj Mithal.

The top court posted the matter for further hearing on December 12.

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on August 24, 2017 declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under the Constitution, saying it was “the constitutional core of human dignity”.

“The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III (which deals with Fundamental Rights) of the Constitution,” a nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India JS Khehar had ruled in a unanimous verdict.

However, the Bench had clarified that like other fundamental rights, the right to privacy was not absolute and any encroachment will have to withstand the touchstone of permissible restrictions. A law to survive a challenge on the ground of violation of Article 21 must be fair, just and reasonable, it had noted.

While granting bail to accused Raman Bhuraria — an auditor arrested by the ED in August 2021 in connection with a money laundering probe arising out of Rs 3,269 crore financial irregularity case against Shakti Bhog Foods Ltd, the Delhi High Court had on February 8 imposed several bail conditions on him.

The high court had directed Bhuraria to drop a Google pin location from his mobile phone to the IO concerned and the Google pin location was to be kept operational throughout his bail. The ED has challenged the bail order.

As the Enforcement Directorate counsel likened it with the usual bail condition requiring the accused to report to the investigating officer every week, the top court observed that it was different from tracking the movement of the accused.