Govt. agencies can analyse WhatsApp chats, NCB tells HC
WhatsApp chats, which are end to end encrypted, can be analysed by government organisations, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently told the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Responding to a bail petition filed in the High Court by an 18yearold under Section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in a Narcotic Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS) case, the NCB stated that since the entire WhatsApp chat of the accused was endtoend encrypted, it could not be opened by the agency, which was constrained to send it to forensic specialists for its “opening and analysis”. The NCB, Chandigarh, submitted that the petitioner and his father, a coaccused, were found in possession of 520 g of heroin without any permit or license while they were travelling in a car. They were arrested on February 14, 2020. It added that the petitioner’s involvement in trafficking was established from his conversation with a Nigerian hand lersupplier of the contraband over phone and WhatsApp communications.
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- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson greeted world leaders at the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Friday, offering elbow bumps to dignitaries gathered for the first time since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic. The virus was set to dominate their discussions, with leaders of the wealthy democracies’ club are set to commit to sharing at least 1 billion vaccine shots with struggling countries.
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