Anurag Singh, the alleged main conspirator arrested in connection with the attempt to access call details of BJP leader Arun Jaitley, had unsuccessfully tried to get licence from the country's only recognised private detectives association a couple of years back.
The association said it had rejected the private detective's application as his credentials were not proven.
"Anurag approached us for accreditation sometime after the Amar Singh phone tapping case came to light in 2005-06. We refused him a license as we were not sure about his credentials.
"He had done MBBS and was into the hacking domain. Our association gives license to firms run by ex-security and service personnel and similar proven experts in the intelligence and information gathering domain," president of the Association of Private Detectives of India (APDI), Kunwar Vikram Singh, told PTI.
The APDI conducts full inquiry before inducting a member into the body, he said.
The Delhi Police have arrested Anurag and three others in the case. All four are in judicial custody till March 6.
Singh said the 1,500-odd detective agencies registered under this all-India banner do not indulge in providing Call Data Records (CDRs) to their clients and they refuse if someone approaches them for such service.
We are very clear about what is legal and illegal, he said.
"We will conduct due-diligence, shadow a person, generate humanly gathered information but not CDRs. Also, the CDR never tells you what was discussed between the parties but it is simply a log that tells you that an individual is in touch with how many people. The APDI members are not in the CDR supplying business," he said.
