Delhi HC flags privacy concerns after police seek info on WhatsApp contacts of suspect in bomb threat case

The Delhi High Court on Monday raised concerns that the right to privacy may be affected if it were to allow a plea by the Delhi Police for the disclosure of information on WhatsApp contacts saved by a person accused of issuing hoax bomb threats to the Union Ministry of Petroleum in June 2025..Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani has sought WhatsApp's response in the matter. However, the judge also expressed reservations about the Delhi police's plea. In particular, he questioned whether information on the contacts saved by the suspect on WhatsApp should be disclosed. The Court pointed out that the suspect may save numbers of those who do not know that their contact has been saved. Such numbers could even include government functionaries whom the suspect may never have contacted, it noted. The Court questioned whether such persons should be unnecessarily investigated by the authorities. “Anybody can pick up the directory of a government department and record some numbers in WhatsApp. Then you will say, 'oh he is in touch with so and so.' That means nothing. You will then ask for details of that person. You will say 'now I need that data.' You will start looking into someone else’s number. Then no privacy will remain,” the Court stated. .The Court added that the Delhi Police should also consider the possibility that the accused may be in the habit of saving contact numbers of judges, ministers and senior officials who have no connection to him or his actions. “Suppose the person under investigation has saved a police officer’s, lawyer’s number without connection, what will you do about that? Will you take them under realm of suspicion? Does the person whose number is stored, does he even know? You don’t know if the person just likes to save numbers of ministers, judges, officials, what will you do then? Then there is no end to this. For WhatsApp, it is a policy matter also," Justice Bhambani said. .The Delhi Police's plea concerns a Chief Judicial Magistrate's (CJM) refusal to issue directions for the disclosure of asymmetrical WhatsApp data (encrypted data) tied the number of a person accused of having issued fake bomb threats. After a revision petition questioning the correctness of the CJM's order was dismissed, the Delhi Police moved the High Court with its plea. In the order passed yesterday, the High Court noted that the CJM had observed that the request for asymmetrical data cannot be allowed since it may lead to a violation of privacy for third parties..During the hearing, the State's Additional Standing Counsel (ASC) Sanjeev Bhandari argued that the police requires the asymmetrical data from Whatsapp to investigate whether the accused was in communication with third parties.“The threat call was received from this number. To verify and check if calls were made to another country or if to the Ministry to get secret information, for that enquiry we require the data. We have sought for information on what all contacts were saved on this number’s Whatsapp application. There is a connection with Pakistan, there is a national threat," he submitted. He added that fourteen contacts were saved by the accused on WhatsApp. The accused is alleged to have also misrepresented himself as an official of the Ministry of Home Affairs and tried to derive sensitive information from the Drone Federation India.Responding to the privacy concerns expressed by the Court, ASC Bhandari also assured that persons who are not accused will not be investigated. .The case will be heard next on May 26. .ASC Sanjeev Bhandari appeared with advocate Arjit Sharma for the State. .[Read live coverage]