Legitimacy of private detective services: questions over regulation, privacy and State’s obligations
Published on: 24 February 2022, 12:20 pm
Private investigation agencies must be regulated through legislation, for they violate the fundamental right to privacy of individuals, writes NISHTHA NIKHIL GUPTA.
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RECENTLY, a Public Interest Litigation was filed at the Delhi High Court demanding a review of the status of private investigators and detective agencies in India, while lobbying for the enactment of the long-pending Private Detective Agencies (Regulation) Bill of 2007. The bill was tabled in Parliament and was subject to review by a Parliamentary standing committee. However, it has not yet seen the light of the day. It beckons, therefore, a review of the status of private investigators in India, their legality and legitimacy in the country. I argue that private investigation agencies violate the fundamental foundations of Indian constitutions rooted through human rights.
The legal position
A basic Google search for private detective agencies in India would provide a list of multiple agencies and individual agents touting to be the best detective agencies in the country, offering services ranging from "pre-marital investigation, post marital spying, teenager monitoring, evidence collection and more." A recent article questions how the State can acquiesce to private companies to carry out surveillance in and police the streets of Bengaluru. The phenomenon not only dilutes equitable access to public property, but enables states to forfeit their obligation to ensure public safety to unaccountable private entities.