Don't encroach on privacy: Delhi High Court to BCD over lawyers being spammed with Bar election calls, messages

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed displeasure over lawyers’ contact details being made public and allegedly being misused by candidates contesting the Bar Council of Delhi (BCD) elections to send unsolicited campaign messages.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia remarked that lawyers’ privacy cannot be encroached in this way and that they are being harassed and spammed.

“This is not the way. You can’t encroach on people’s privacy. Individual lawyers are being harassed without their willingness. They have been included in WhatsApp groups without their consent,” the Bench said. 

The Court made the remark while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an Advocate Shashank Singh, stating that the BCD has made public the photographs, residential addresses and mobile phone numbers of lawyers in its recently updated voter list. 

It was stated that this poses harassment, profiling and security risks to the advocates and that many of them are getting calls and messages from unknown numbers for election canvassing. 

Advocate T Singhdev appeared for the BCD. He stated that the elections are on Saturday and that the canvassing will soon come to an end. He said that details about the voter list had to be given to the 121 candidates contesting the BCD elections for canvassing. Singhdev added that lawyers’ details are easily available on various websites. 

However, the Bench said that the BCD must protect the privacy of the lawyers. 

“You have to protect their right to privacy. You are making every detail public. You have to do something,” Chief Justice Upadhyaya said. 

Ultimately, the Bench issued notice to the BCD, the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the Central government on the PIL and said it would be heard after two weeks.