‘Google PIN as condition of granting bail,’ SC seeks assistance from tech-giant

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked Google India to explain the technical aspects of dropping a PIN as a condition requiring an accused to continue to provide information to the investigators in relation with his whereabouts.

The top court was considering a plea whether the condition could infringe on the right to privacy of an individual.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan noted the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has given an affidavit and has suggested that as far as working of the Google PIN is concerned, it is appropriate if the information is sought from Google India Pvt Ltd.

The court issued notice to Google India Pvt Ltd, seeking information on sharing the technical aspects of the movement tracker.

The bench asked the company to file a response explaining the working of the Google PIN in the context of putting it as a condition of granting bail. 

The bench made it clear that it is not impleading the company as a respondent in the case but only seeking its assistance for obtaining information on the working of the Google PIN.

The apex court set aside the two stringent conditions imposed by the Delhi High Court and granted bail to the accused, who is a Nigerian national, in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

Senior advocate Vinay Navare assisted the court as amicus curiae, and advocate Varun Mishra represented the accused in the case.

The bench noted that courts across the country have been including the sharing of mobile locations as one of the conditions of bail, since many used smartphones.

In the previous hearing, the apex court noted that the condition of sharing of Google PIN may prima facie offend the privacy rights of the accused, as assured under Article 21 of the Constitution.

In May 2022, the high court had put two stringent conditions – one, the accused shall drop a PIN on Google Map to ensure that their location is available to the investigation officer of the case. And, the second condition was that the high commission of Nigeria must place on record an assurance that the accused shall not leave the country and will appear before the trial court as and when required.

In the order, the bench said such onerous conditions cannot be put because no embassy will be able to fulfil such conditions and directed these conditions may not be complied with. 

“The petitioner is released on interim bail on the conditions imposed by the courts below except dropping a Google PIN and assurance from the high commission of Nigeria,” the court said.