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Supreme Court draws Lakshman Rekha, ED will not be able to copy laptop and mobile data seized in raid
The Supreme Court has barred the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from copying data from electronic devices including laptops and mobile phones seized during the search of lottery king Santiago Martin, his relatives, and employees in November. Future Gaming's lawyers argued that obtaining data from seized electronic devices is a violation of privacy and fundamental rights.
The Supreme Court has barred the ED from accessing and copying data from electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones seized during the raid against Santiago Martin, popularly known as lottery king, his relatives, and employees.
The apex court had passed this order on the petition of the companies, Future Gaming and Hotels Services Private Limited and its promoter Martin on December 13. It may force the investigating agencies to think twice before deciding on seizing the mobile phone or laptop of the accused. This order can be useful for the persons accused in such cases, too.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mittal said, "Notice is issued. In the meanwhile, interim relief is granted as prayed for keeping in view the application." Counsel for Future Gaming had argued that extracting data from electronic devices seized was a breach of privacy and fundamental rights.
