According to a report published by a leading English news paper, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly given its nod for phone tapping of political leaders and other officials in the cases of corruption. The news has come into more prominence with the ongoing war of words between the AP and Telangana governments regarding the alleged phone tapping of AP CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu.

The report further says that the CBI itself has been tapping the phones of several leaders for a long time through its Anti-Corruption Division. The phone tapping is within the purview of the police and the tapped conversion can be used as evidence in courts. The CBI interprets corruption by a public servant as a threat to the nation's economy.

However, the CBI's Director must take permission from Union Home Secretary through the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) for tapping the phones of the accused or the complainant related to the graft cases as per the section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885.

In the alleged phone tapping row in the cash for vote scandal, the ACB Director General AK Khan stated that the Bureau did not tapped phone of the AP CM or other people associated with the case. Usually, ACB use digital recorders to record audio conversations by placing the complainant's phone's speaker on in the presence of neutral witnesses.