New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a writ petition filed by the Cellular Operators Association of India questioning the orders of a trial court in Andhra Pradesh to disclose documents and electronic data relating to telephone tapping incident involving an MLA.
A bench of Justices Vikaramajit Sen and Shiv Kirti Singh, while permitting the COAI to withdraw the petition, gave it liberty to approach the High Court for relief. Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal submitted that the operators were caught between the conflicting orders passed by the AP and Telangana state governments.
He said that while the AP government wanted data regarding certain cellular phone numbers, the TS government had issued an order directing the operators not to part with any such information. Justice Sen said, “We are not belittling the problem. We understand that the problem is serious, but we must have faith in the High Courts.”
