The Supreme Court has requested the Central government to provide a response regarding a plea that seeks to move a public interest litigation (PIL) related to surveillance systems from the Delhi High Court to the Supreme Court.

The public interest litigation (PIL) argues that surveillance programs such as the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), Network Traffic Analysis (NETRA), and National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) are posing a threat to the privacy rights of citizens.

On October 10, a panel of Justices consisting of BR Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra had issued a notice to the Central government and requested a response within a four-week period. The transfer petition, filed by the NGO Center for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) and the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), is scheduled for listing on November 10.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by CPIL and SFLC, which is currently awaiting a decision in the high court, alleges that these surveillance systems enable central and state law enforcement agencies to intercept and monitor large-scale telecommunications data, which constitutes a violation of individuals' fundamental right to privacy.

The petition, submitted by advocate Prashant Bhushan, argues that the current legal framework lacks an adequate oversight mechanism for authorizing and reviewing interception and monitoring orders issued by state agencies.

The two NGOs have requested the Court to issue directives to the Central government, ordering a permanent halt to the implementation and operation of the surveillance projects, including CMS, NETRA, and NATGRID, which involve the bulk collection and analysis of personal data.

According to the petition, CMS is a surveillance system that intercepts and monitors all types of communications, including telephone calls, WhatsApp messages, and emails. NETRA, developed by the Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAIR), is a laboratory under the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) designed to monitor internet traffic for the detection of keywords such as "attack," "bomb," "blast," or "kill" in tweets, status updates on social media platforms, emails, or blogs.

The petition asserts that NETRA is essentially a large-scale surveillance system designed to comprehensively monitor the nation's Internet networks. This includes surveillance of voice over internet traffic transmitted through software programs like Skype or Google Talk, as well as the content of tweets, status updates, emails, instant messaging conversations, internet calls, blogs, and online forums.

According to the petition, NATGRID is described as a counter-terrorism initiative that involves a public-private partnership. It aims to utilize technologies such as Big Data and advanced analytics to study and analyze extensive amounts of data and metadata pertaining to individuals. This data is sourced from various separate databases belonging to different agencies and ministries of the Indian government.

The plea alleges that under the NATGRID system, various types of personal data and records would be monitored, including tax and bank account details, credit card transactions, visa and immigration records, as well as itineraries related to rail and air travel.

The PIL has requested the establishment of a permanent independent oversight body, which could be either a judicial or parliamentary entity. This body would be responsible for issuing and reviewing lawful interception and monitoring orders or warrants in accordance with the enabling provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Information Technology Act, 2000.