https://facebook.com/ iijnmbangalore
The Observer An IIJNM publication
BJP-JD(S) alliance will not affect Congress during Legislative Council polls, says youth wing | P 2
Vol. 21, Issue 17
Website: http://www. theweeklyobserver.in
Some Bengalureans now prefer pocket-friendly ‘staycations’ to planned long-distance travel | P3
People unhappy, but hand over devices due fear By Arshreet Singh
I
A DCP says checking phones without permission is not allowed, but street-level cops remain unaware of policy | Courtesy: KPN me and asked me to step out of the vehicle. He then went through my wallet and my bag. I was scared what if he places something in my bag.” “He asked me about my CTC, and then asked to go through my phone. I had two options – either stand up and go to jail or leave peacefully. So I opened my phone
Epaper: https://issuu.com/ theweeklyobserver/docs
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Without approval, police check citizens’ mobiles for drug leads
n a gross misuse of authority, complaints of the Bengaluru police reading citizens’ personal conversations on their smartphones have surfaced on the Web. Citizens are wary of invasion of their privacy, but still give in due to a fear of being taken into custody. “We were walking around looking for apartments in Kasturi Nagar when two cops approached and asked us to show our phones. When we refused, they yelled at us, and told us to open WhatsApp and started reading the chats of me and my friend. When we asked why, they told us it was because of drugs. He even asked me for my CTC,” said Gaurav Sharma, 25, who works for an IT company. “It is my privacy, but we surrendered because we were scared,” he added. Mukund Kulkarni, 26, who works for CRED, informed The Observer: “This happened last Friday. I work in Indiranagar and live in Bannerghatta. I got an Ola to go back home late at night, and the cops stopped us at a checkpoint. The policeman looked at
https://twitter.com/ observer_weekly
and he typed in the keywords ‘maal’ and ‘score’ and then proceeded to go through my personal photos,” Kulkarni added. When Kulkarni retaliated by saying it was unfair and he was disappointed by the conduct of the policeman, the cop simply asked him to leave. Reports of such incidents in Hy-
derabad have also been published by the Hindustan Times and The News Minute. However such violations of privacy have remained under the radar in Bengaluru. Gururaj Biradar, a traffic constable, said: “We are allowed to check phones if we have a doubt or a suspicion on a person.” The Observer contacted DCP Santhosh Babu to get clarity on the subject. Contradicting the constable’s statement, he said: “It is not allowed. But if we suspect a person, we can take them to the police station and get a warrant.” “Only if a person is caught redhanded at the scene of a crime, then the policemen have the permission to seize the mobile, and it will be submitted to the court. If you are not involved in a direct crime, we cannot check. It is your privacy,” Babu added. Advocate Shiva Kumar Biradar, who has practised for more than nine years, said: “Police cannot check your phone without your approval. It is an invasion of privacy under Article 21 of the constitution. They can first issue a notice to check the phone, but cannot force you to hand over your phone.You can sue the police in a court of law for this.” Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the police do have the power to conduct searches, but only when they are pursuing investigation of an offence. arshreet.s@iijnm.org
News briefs We have no record of farmers’ deaths, says govt The government has no record of the farmers who died during the year-long farmers’ protests. “The ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare has no record in the matter and hence the question does not arise,” the ministry said in a reply in Parliament. The opposition has asked whether the Centre intends to provide financial assistance to the families of those who died during the protests.
Sudha Bharadwaj gets default bail The Bombay High Court on Wednesday allowed the default bail plea of Sudha Bharadwaj in the Elgar Parishad case. She will be arraigned before the special NIA court on December 8, which will impose bail conditions and finalize her release. The Bench, however, rejected the default bail pleas of the eight other co-accused.
Resumption of int’l flights postponed DGCA on Wednesday decided to postpone the resumption of scheduled international flights from December 15 citing "evolving global scenario" in the wake of the emergence of the new Omicron variant. Last month, the government decided to normalise international flight operations. Scheduled international flights to and from India remain suspended since March 2020.
Fearing Omicron variant, parents are Most govt school students reluctant to send children to school not ready to learn coding By Tina Freese
F
ear of an emergence of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 in Bengaluru, parents are reluctant to send their children to school. For their part, schools are waiting for government orders. Hemu R, a parent whose child studies in class 9, informed The Observer: “It is very scary for me
to send my girl to school after hearing about the formation of new Covid clusters. The new variant, as it is known, mutates multiple times, making it even more dangerous. I understand that online classes are not as good as onsite/offline classes, but in an alarming situation like this, for safety, schools should consider shifting back to online classes.” Sajeesh KP, who has three chil-
dren, faces a similar dilemma. “Online classes are not as good as offline classes, but they are safer. Two of my children are going for onsite classes and we worry about them. The younger ones are naughty and don’t take proper precautions. We try to make them use sanitizer as much as possible but aren’t sure they do that in school too. I think sooner or later, schools will have to switch to offline classes again,” he said Schools, however, aren’t sure of what they should do. ►Continued on Page 5
T
he National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has made coding a part of the curriculum from class 6, but most government school students are not prepared to learn it. They lack a basic understanding of computers, reports Simran Sharma. Many government schools and some private schools lack enough computer teachers. Many schools
do not even have the necessary infrastructure like computers to support such learning. Karnataka is the first state to implement NEP. Its implementation will begin from the next academic year. State authorities say that the NEP is still in its infant stage and the implementation is still being planned as of now. ►Details on page 4