Plea in Delhi High Court seeks regulation of private detective agencies

A petition has been filed before the Delhi High Court seeking the regulation of the conduct of private detectives in India on the grounds of being violative of the fundamental right to privacy. [Radha Bisht v Union of India].The plea by one Radha Bishta said that the Private Detective Agencies Bill was mooted in 2007 but has been pending for 13 years, fallen through and expired and therefore, there is no law governing the activities of private detectives and their agencies."Due to such absence of law governing the activities of private detectives, people being victim of abuse, people violated of their right to privacy, people being cheated or offended otherwise, have no statutory law to invoke against the agencies and make them liable." the petition said..The petitioner, a 12th-pass undergraduate who runs a boutique submitted that she was subjected to domestic violence by her husband after which she left her matrimonial house. Her husband then hired a private detective, one Pooja Bajaj who followed her and violated her right to privacy. Further, she alleged her husband went to the extent of sending goons to follow her..The inability to make private detective agencies liable before any court of law or authorities enable them to operate in any manner that they feel suitable for themselves. .The private detective who was hired to spy on her, also took some pictures of her without her consent. The petitioner approached the police to file a complaint against the husband and his private detective, and even sent a legal notice to the husband but till date no action has been taken, it was pointed out.Bisht placed reliance on the Supreme Court judgment in KS Puttaswamy v Union of India wherein the apex court held that 'informational privacy' which is personal information with the potential to affect the right to privacy of an individual, shall be restricted..The petitioner claimed that the mode in which the detectives operate enables the violation of fundamental right of citizens under Article 21 of the Constitution.