{"id":44190,"date":"2024-12-25T10:17:20","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T04:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=44190"},"modified":"2025-05-06T09:13:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T03:43:15","slug":"bangladeshs-extradition-request-for-sheikh-hasina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/bangladeshs-extradition-request-for-sheikh-hasina\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Restrains ED from Accessing Seized Digital Devices"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is the Enforcement Directorate (ED)?<\/li>\n<li>What is the Case Background?<\/li>\n<li>Supreme Court&#8217;s Order<\/li>\n<li>Implications for ED Investigations<\/li>\n<li>Broader Concerns<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In a landmark decision, the SC has prohibited the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from accessing and copying data from electronic devices seized during a raid on Santiago Martin, known as the &#8220;lottery king,&#8221; his relatives, and employees.<\/li>\n<li>The decision emphasises the<strong> protection of fundamental rights<\/strong>, including the right to <strong>privacy<\/strong>, and could influence future guidelines on digital device seizures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is the Enforcement Directorate (ED)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Background:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The origin of the Directorate can be traced back to <strong>1956<\/strong>, when an \u2018Enforcement Unit\u2019 was formed, in the Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947.<\/li>\n<li><strong>In 1957,<\/strong> this Unit was renamed as \u2018Enforcement Directorate\u2019 and the administrative control of the Directorate was transferred from Department of Economic Affairs to Department of Revenue in 1960.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>About:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is <strong>a specialised financial investigation<\/strong> agency under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, which enforces the following laws: &#8211;\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999 (FEMA)<\/strong> &#8211; A Civil Law.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)<\/strong> &#8211; A Criminal Law.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The ED (Headquartered at New Delhi) is governed under the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, 2003.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Composition:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>It is composed of officers<\/strong> from the Indian Revenue Service, the Indian Police Service and the Indian Administrative Service, as well as officers promoted from its own cadre.<\/li>\n<li>It is headed by the <strong>Director of Enforcement<\/strong>, who is appointed by the Central government and has been provided security of <strong>two-year tenure<\/strong> in office by the CVC Act, 2003.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is the Case Background?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The ED&#8217;s operation:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In November, ED conducted searches at 22 locations across six states based on a complaint by Meghalaya Police.<\/li>\n<li>Allegations were made against Future Gaming and Hotel Services Pvt Ltd for <strong>illegally monopolising the lottery business in Meghalaya.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The raids uncovered \u20b912.41 crore in cash.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Future Gaming\u2019s political contributions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The company was the <strong>largest purchaser of electoral bonds<\/strong>, totaling \u20b91,368 crore between 2019 and 2024.<\/li>\n<li>Donations were made across party lines:\n<ul>\n<li>Trinamool Congress: \u20b9542 crore<\/li>\n<li>DMK: \u20b9503 crore<\/li>\n<li>YSR Congress: \u20b9154 crore<\/li>\n<li>BJP: \u20b9100 crore<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Supreme Court&#8217;s Order:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Content and directives:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>A two-page order by Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal directed ED not to access or copy data from seized devices belonging to Santiago Martin and his associates.<\/li>\n<li>The order also stayed summons under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) requiring individuals to appear for data extraction purposes.<\/li>\n<li>The Future Gaming case was ordered to be heard alongside other cases related to digital device seizures, including Amazon India and Newsclick petitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Petitioners\u2019 argument:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The plea emphasized the violation of privacy and constitutional rights due to unrestricted access to sensitive personal and business data.<\/li>\n<li>It highlighted the absence of procedural safeguards against &#8220;fishing expeditions&#8221; by investigative agencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Implications for ED Investigations:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ED\u2019s response:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Senior officials described the SC&#8217;s restraint as \u201cunprecedented\u201d but maintained it would not hinder their investigations due to other evidence and property attachments worth \u20b9622 crore.<\/li>\n<li>They cited adherence to CBI guidelines on digital evidence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Legal implications:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Lawyers, including former Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, argued for interim relief, highlighting the infringement of privacy and the need for defined procedures in such cases.<\/li>\n<li>The decision sets a potential precedent for limiting access to sensitive data and <strong>protecting against self-incrimination.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Broader Concerns:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nature of seized devices:<\/strong> The petition detailed the seizure of 17 mobile phones, hard disks, pen drives, and email backups containing sensitive financial, medical, and business information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tax compliance:<\/strong> Future Gaming disclosed having paid \u20b928,205 crore in GST for operating state lotteries, reinforcing its compliance record.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Call for guidelines:<\/strong> The petition advocates for clear procedures to ensure privacy rights are respected during digital device seizures and investigations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court\u2019s order underscores the growing importance of safeguarding digital privacy in legal investigations.<\/li>\n<li>As the case progresses, it may establish new standards for <strong>balancing law enforcement objectives with constitutional rights<\/strong>, particularly in an era where personal and business data is increasingly digitised.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is &#8216;Right to Privacy&#8217; in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy case (2017), commonly known as the Right to Privacy verdict, the SC held that the right to privacy is protected as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The PMLA is a law that prevents money laundering and confiscated property involved in money laundering. It came into effect on July 1, 2005.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/lottery-king-santiago-martin-case-sc-red-line-for-ed-cant-copy-access-content-from-laptop-mobile-phones-9743109\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Santiago Martin case \u2014 SC red line for ED: Can\u2019t copy, access content from laptop, mobile phones<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The SC has prohibited the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from accessing and copying data from electronic devices seized during a raid on Santiago Martin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-44190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}