Daily Times

A couple of days ago, I received a message in desi text lingo, which when translated said: “In order to detect/trace theft, dacoity, murder, kidnapping, call immediately. A team will bring trained dogs to you. 24 hours service, money back guarantee.” It was followed by two mobile numbers. Mercifully, I had no need of this team and their trained dogs, having a few untrained mutts of my own out for hire!

A few weeks ago, a news channel was going bonkers over another detective agency operating in Pakistan. Registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), this company states its objective as “to carry out, undertake and provide assistance in professional, technical, forensic and legal matters, to provide consultancy services in connection with installation of security systems, close circuit TV systems and scanners activity check, child location, adultery and infidelity (marital).” It also states: “The company shall not act as an investigation, interrogation or enforcement agency parallel to police or any other crime fighting government agency or any national security agency, subject to any licence/authority or permission required under the law, in particular by: gathering, evaluating or assessing evidence; finding, exploring, seeking and locating missing evidence, records, properties; to make search, collect relevant information, and facts about properties and person.”

I have absolutely no problems with what is detailed above, being a diehard Agatha Christie, Alfred Hitchcock and Sherlock Holmes fan myself, except for the part, “adultery and infidelity (marital)”, and the fact what legal authority does this company or for that matter any such company have to infringe on the fundamental right of life, dignity and privacy of others?

A look at the company’s website reveals that while the company promises confidentiality, it expects the “clients to keep all the information confidential and not to breach, infringe or violate the confidentiality agreement” who “however, will be at liberty to use the evidence provided…in the court of law, or on the media, Internet or for confronting their opponent according to their choice but the source of information shall remain confidential.” Furthermore, the company “will not become a witness in any court of law.” The company extends its services to people who are “desperate to know the truth and do not have the means.” The list includes “adultery or infidelity (marital); cheating/unfaithful wife or husband; the other man; the other woman; background investigation (pre-marital) and divorce investigation” and undertakes to provide evidence “revealed during the course of investigation, including without limitation, written or printed documents, pictures, videos, audio recordings, electronically transferred data, tangible and non-tangible.”

While encouraging spouses not to let the other “get away”, they goad wives with “the most devastating blow to a wife’s soul is to discover that her husband is having an extramarital affair with an ‘Other Woman’. The betrayal, humiliation, anger and despair caused by your husband will create an upheaval and in most of the cases, restoring a relationship becomes a nightmare. We believe, if you were too gutless to view your husband on his actions, blaming the Other Woman and sticking your head in the sand is not the answer.” The company claims to actually help salvage marriages!

How does a self-proclaimed ‘private detective agency’ operate in Pakistan without a licence and under what provision of law? Does a mere registration with the SECP give carte blanche to individuals or companies to trample and violate the fundamental rights of citizens? Under what authority can such a company provide ‘video and audio recordings’ and ‘electronically transferred data’? Is not wire-tapping and hacking computers illegal? And pray how does using the evidence provided by it in court or on media or spewing venom on the internet save a marriage? It may be noteworthy that even our police force does not have the authority to access mobile records, which are normally obtained through the Intelligence Bureau, and they certainly do not have the power to place any sort of a wiretap.

The use of such evidence in court also leaves a big question mark; for any such evidence to be admissible, it has to be legally obtained and the person who obtained it has to testify accordingly. Just like a medico-legal certificate has to be proved by the doctor who wrote and signed it, the investigation officer of a case has to depose as to the site plans, recovery memos and other documents written by him. A ballistic expert has to appear in court about his findings; photographs have to be proved by the testimony of the photographer, but how does one prove illegally obtained evidence, like audio-visual recordings and hacked accounts?

Our is a country where violence against women is such a major and serious issue, where we are constantly urging better implementation of existing laws, are still advocating for the protection of women against domestic violence, where honour killings and acid throwing is still a menace, where mutilating a woman’s body is not an issue. To promote and blatantly advertise proof against cheating spouses, adultery, infidelity, the other woman, the other man, all under the garb of saving a marriage, yet goading people by calling them ‘gutless’, is immoral and criminal. Mercifully for us, adultery/zina cannot be proved by video or photographic evidence. The requirement is four male witnesses who actually witnessed the act and who fulfil the criteria of tazkia-ul-shahood (pious witnesses).

Inciting people to commit outrageous acts, like putting up photographs and videos and what not on the internet and going public via the media, is this ethical? And since when has the average Pakistani male become so forgiving and tolerant that even after having such ammunition in hand, he chooses to work on his marriage, forgive his wife and live happily ever after? What happens to the other woman when her relatives find out?

The government has recently drafted, amid grave concerns, the Investigation for Fair Trial Bill 2012, which empowers the state to put wiretaps, intercept private communications, make emails, SMSes and audio-visual recordings admissible evidence. Already, we are threatened by a possible serious infringement of our fundamental rights by the state if this bill is passed, but to have a private company openly operating in Pakistan claiming access to all this information is preposterous, to say the least, more so in the absence of any such legal authority by the state agencies. There is no regulatory law that governs detective agencies in Pakistan, but what has been done by the government after the information became public? Has the SECP taken any action against the company for acting beyond the scope of its memorandum? Since when do we ‘legalise’ companies, presumably involved in the business of moral brigading the public? Are people with high profile contacts above the law? Have we forgotten the Fakhra Younises of Pakistan? Is Saving Face a dim memory now? Or do we as a nation, violate women first and then pretend to save them?

Sherlock Holmes once told Dr Watson, “If it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.”

Marriages cannot be salvaged by maligning each other publicly; private and personal issues need to be worked out privately. For spouses to hire private detectives to monitor and provide proofs regarding their ‘lesser half’ sounds like a recipe for disaster. Only mutual respect and trust can save a marriage, nothing less. Dr Watson, time to yell: “Norbury, Dear Mr Holmes!”

The writer is an advocate of the High Court