SC considers inputs, closes PIL seeking ban on video communications app 'Zoom'
New Delhi, Feb 14: The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of the minutes of the meeting held by the National Security Council Secretariat and closed the PIL seeking a ban on video communications app 'Zoom' for official as well as personal use until an appropriate law has been put in place.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh said now nothing survived in the PIL filed by Delhi resident Harsh Chugh in 2020 in the wake of subsequent developments.
"We have considered the minutes of the meeting of the National Security Council Secretariat held on December 28, 2020 regarding the security features of Zoom, VC platform. In our opinion, nothing survives in the present writ petition in view of the said document. Accordingly, the proceedings are closed," the bench said in its order.
The top court had on May 22, 2020 sought the response of the Centre to the PIL which raised privacy concerns and claimed that continued use of the Zoom app is "making the users vulnerable and prone to cyber threats".
The plea had made the US-based Zoom Video Communications one of the respondents in the case.
Chugh, in the PIL, had also sought a direction to the Centre to carry out an exhaustive technical study of the potential security and privacy risks of using the Zoom application.
He had alleged that continued use of this app might put national security at stake and could boost cyber-threats and cyber crimes in India.
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Body of Bihar Police personnel found hanging in barracks in Patna
Patna (PTI): The body of a Bihar Police personnel was found hanging from the ceiling of a room in his barracks here, a senior officer said on Sunday.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Kartikeya Sharma said a havildar with Bihar State Armed Police-1, popularly known as "Gorkha battalion", died allegedly by suicide as he had been suffering from some ailment.
The deceased left behind "two suicide notes", one in Hindi and the other in his native language Nepali.
"From the suicide notes, it appears that Navraj Sunar, the deceased havildar, had been suffering from some ailment which had caused him much mental anguish and may have driven him to take the extreme step," the SSP said.
The body was being sent to the native village of the deceased in Nepal after a post-mortem examination, while further investigations were on, with forensic experts inspecting the site of the incident.
