New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on a plea alleging an "enormous rise" in cyber-crimes and "nuisance" of unsolicited calls in the country.
The matter came up before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar. The apex court was hearing a PIL filed by one Gowrishankar from Bengaluru. The bench observed that the concerned agencies were doing their bit, and issued a notice to the Department of Telecommunications. “Yes, we understand the problem is there. Let the Centre respond”, said the bench.
The plea contended that it wants to bring focus on the growing menace of cybercrime frauds in India and the toll it takes on citizens, law enforcement authorities and other agencies viz., the RBI, commercial banks etc.
The plea contended that calling Name Presentation service or CNAP has been identified by the respondent (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as a proactive measure to contain the perils of cybercrime. "Despite the pressing nature of this issue, lack of a clear implementation timeline and the progress of CNAP during the last 2.5 years has led to the filing of this PIL seeking immediate action," it said.
The plea urged the apex court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the respondent to implement CNAP within three months and establishing necessary supplementary measures viz., a reporting mechanism for fraudulent calls, integration of CNAP service with the Cybercrime Reporting Portal, and pass any other appropriate orders to safeguard public safety.
