Sharing Google Pin Location Cannot Be A Bail Condition, Hit By Right To Privacy: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday observed that condition of sharing Google pin location as a bail condition is hit by the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21

The Supreme Court on Monday while reserving its verdict observed that the condition of sharing Google pin location as a bail condition is hit by the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and cannot be a bail condition.

The court was hearing a plea against certain conditions set by the Delhi High Court in its order granting interim bail to Frank Vitus, a Nigerian national accused in a drugs case. The High Court in 2022 directed the accused man and a co-accused to place a pin on Google Maps to ensure that their whereabouts were visible to police.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan on Monday observed, "Two things we want to say...This as a bail condition is hit by Article 21, and Google affidavit is superfluous." 

The apex court earlier issued notice to tech giant Google India and asked for its assistance to understand the technical aspects of sharing a PIN in the context of granting bail on condition of sharing live location. The top court was faced with a question whether a condition to share live location in a bail order infringes the right to privacy.

However, on April 8, the apex court was informed that the correct authority to explain this would be Google LLC and not Google India.

The apex court had clarified that Google is not being made a respondent in the case. The notice is issued by the court to seek clarity so it can examine the larger question of "right to privacy".

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India had submitted in the court that as far as the working of Google PIN is concerned, it will be appropriate to seek information from Google.

A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the case and directed Google to file an affidavit along with the necessary documents explaining the working of Google PIN in the context of putting a condition in the order granting bail. The issue is whether such a condition infringes the right to privacy.

The top court was also examining whether a bail condition that the accused must share the Google Pin location with the investigating officer be imposed. The top court will further adress if bail to a foreigner can be conditional on obtaining an assurance from the concerned Embassy that the accused will not leave India.