SC refuses to interfere with plea to regulate private detective agencies, investigators
Nov 04, 2020
New Delhi [India], November 4 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with a petition seeking directions to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs to regulate private detective agencies and investigators.
A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, refused to interfere with the petition filed by one Sweta Singh.
"You either withdraw your petition, or we will dismiss it," the bench said, after which, the petitioner's lawyer Vibha Dutta Makhija withdrew the petition.
The petitioner had moved the top court seeking appropriate regulations, orders or directions to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of External Affairs for regulating private detective agencies and or private investigators.
Makhija submitted that this is a severe question of law. "The measures and system, how the evidence can be presented and collected in such a manner that violate the fundamental rights of a person, which is guaranteed under the Constitution of India," Makhija said.
"There are four issues -- the violation of the fundamental right of privacy, the government recognises the private detective or not, the collection of evidence is infringing upon the fundamental rights, privacy can't be infringed upon," the lawyer added.
Makhija submitted that the private detective agencies can't violate the right to privacy, etc by their methods of collecting information or evidence.
