IIT accessed call records of whistleblower professor's phone

New Delhi: In an apparent illegal action, a registrar at IIT-Kharagpur had allegedly accessed call records of a whistleblower professor, from BSNL, with whom the institute was having litigations at various levels. Rajeev Kumar managed to access records through Right to Information Act which show that officiating registrar TK Ghosal had written to BSNL General Manager, Telephones in Kharagpur on 1o January 2011 demanding details of calls, made and received from his personal mobile, for six months.[caption id=“attachment_710456” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] IIT Delhi main building. AFP[/caption] The records show that BSNL officials had provided these details to the IIT within three days of requests being made knowing well that phone was registered in the name of Kumar and not the institute. When contacted over phone, Ghoshal said, “All faculty members are being reimbursed Rs 750 per month as telephone charges… We asked for the details for some enquiry. We asked for call details it is not call tapping. We sought the information from the BSNL. If it is unauthorised, if it is illegal, BSNL authorities could not have given to us. They would have refused it. We have not forced them to give it. We have said please give the call details that’s it.” Ghosal admitted that phone was registered in the name of Kumar and not IIT. Suspecting that he was under “illegal surveillance” of the IIT, Kharagpur authorities, Kumar had last year filed a complaint with the West Bengal Police alleging that the BSNL had “unauthorisedly” shared call detail records of his personal mobile phone with the authorities at IIT-Kharagpur with whom he was in litigation at various fora. “The cell phone connection is my personal cell connection, acquired by me in my own name, is for my personal use. I pay all the bills, I own the bills and the receipts…Phone tapping with local connivance of BSNL authorities is not ruled out. All such aspects may kindly be investigated,” he alleged. After 10 months of complaint, Inspector Arunava Das asked Kumar, who was the paying authority for his bills, and demanded copies of payments made by him. When contacted, Das refused to give any reasons for the late action and said no details about the case can be shared. Ghosal accepted that police officials had come in this regard and all details have been furnished to them. Kumar’s suspicion turned into real when he received the records of communication between BSNL officials and the IIT-Kharagpur registrar seeking call details of his mobile for a six months periods. Both BSNL and IIT had refused to part with these records under the RTI Act and were provided only after orders from the Central Information Commission this week. When contacted over phone, Bipin Prabhat Kachhap, who was posted as SDE (Network-Operation) CM, Kharagpur and had furnished the information, said this was done on the orders of his superior P K Samanta, who was Deputy General Manager, and has now retired. Samanta said although he knew that the phone was registered in the name of Rajeev Kumar he provided these details to IIT because the authorities claimed that they reimbursed the phone bills to their employee. When asked whether it was an illegal act, Samanta said he does not remember the details of the case and he also followed the orders of his general manager who has also retired. An RTI crusader, Kumar is known for bringing into light alleged anomalies in the admission procedure of the IITs and even Supreme Court have lauded his efforts saying they have helped in “making merit ranking process more transparent and accurate.” In his police complaint, Kumar had alleged that BSNL officials, by disclosing call details of his personal mobile, have violated Section 72, 71 A, 77B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which have maximum fine of five lakh and imprisonment up to three years. PTI