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Anonymous phone calls and the law
The phone rings in the middle of the night startling you out of a profoundly peaceful slumber. You answer with a sense of dread and anticipation. Phone calls in the dead of night rarely bear good news. ?Hello?? you whisper into the mouthpiece, your voice laden with sleep. All you can hear is the sinister sound of heavy breathing. ?Hello? Hello?? you enquire, more and more urgently. The breathing, the awful animalistic breathing continues. You finally slam the phone down, furious at this intrusion. The damage though has already been done.
At the best of times, anonymous phone calls can be a source of intense irritation and, at the worst, nightmarish. Those of a threatening nature are amongst the most crass acts of cowardice. Inevitably, the advent of the era of mass telecommunications has empowered many a prankster and, worse still, vengeful ex-employee and lovers, offering them an outlet for their frustrations, fears and paranoia.
Some people get off by annoying others while others feel empowered by the opportunity to unsettle the unsuspecting from behind their shield of anonymity. Others still utilize anonymous phone calls to settle old scores, be they sentimental or professional in nature.
Alleged anonymous calls are dealt with in accordance the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Act of 2001. Victims of anonymous calls should, of course, proceed to the closest police station and give a detailed statement of the ?facts and circumstances of the case?. From then on, the ball is in the police court. The issue of anonymous calls came to the fore in Parliament this week when opposition MP Maya Hanoomanjee questioned the Prime minister on ?the procedure adopted to trace such calls?.
Fine of Rs 1 million</B>
Navin Ramgoolam explained what happens after the police have recorded the victim?s statement. ?The Police then swear an affidavit and apply to a Judge in Chambers for making an order to the telecommunications to disclose to the police information relating to the alleged call in accordance with section 32 (6) of the ICT Act; upon such an allegation being granted by the Judge, the telecommunications operator has the obligation to trace the calls and convey the identity of the owner of the apparatus from which the calls have originated; on obtaining the required information from the telecommunications operator, the alleged accused is arrested and a provisional charge under section 46(h) of the ICT Act is lodged against him before the district court; on completion of the police enquiry, the case is referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.?
The Information and Communication Technologies Authority (ICTA) ordered, as early as 2004, that the identity of all SIM card owners be registered. And although this process proved lengthy and painstaking, the ICTA has received assurances from telecommunication operators that all non-registered SIM cards have been suspended. This means that the users can receive but not make phone calls. Telecommunication operators can suspend a SIM card at their discretion. The deactivation of a SIM card, on the other hand, requires a court order. Those found guilty of an offence under the ICT Act can be slapped with a fine ?not exceeding Rs1 million and imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years?. The court can also order ?the forfeiture of any installation or apparatus used in connection with the offence; the cancellation of the licence held by the person convicted; that the person shall not be issued with a licence for such period as the Court thinks fit; and that service provided to a person convicted of an offence under this act shall be suspended for such period as the Court thinks fit?.
A victim of a viciously threatening anonymous call is rather sceptical about the efficiency of the procedure. ?It was a Sunday. I received a harrowing call threatening my life. Before going to the police, I wondered to myself. ?Is it worth it? What difference will it make?? Even though threatening phone calls are rarely followed by the real thing, I still thought it would be better to go on the record. It?s better to be on the safe side. I made a statement in which I gave the police the phone number from which the call originated. The police said they weren?t sure whether they?d be able to locate the caller. One month later, I received a call from the police asking me if I wanted them to follow up on the case.I said ?no?.
Her scepticism can seem justified. Especially when one considers that the call came from a landline!
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