Phone Tapping to Prevent High-Value Corruption is Legal: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that intercepting phone calls to prevent corruption involving large sums of public money is lawful and in the interest of public safety. 

Justice Amit Mahajan dismissed a petition by Akash Deep Chauhan, accused of bribing a public servant in a ₹2,149.93 crore project, who claimed the CBI's intercepted calls were illegal. 

The Court ruled that such interception is justified under Section 5 of the Indian Telegraph Act, considering the offence’s economic scale and threat to public trust. 

The court emphasised that corruption undermines national economic security. Charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC Section 120B were also upheld against the petitioner.