case study on information technology act in india

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Supinder Singh

Important Cases On Information Technology Act, 2000

Key Takeaways

Primarily, Information Technology Act, 2000 provides the basic legal framework for electronic transactions in India. Along with this Act, various rules notified under this Act play a significant role in regulating the digital space.
The rights of copyright owners cannot be restricted by Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. So, intermediaries who infringe copyrights of anyone cannot seek protection under this section.
Banyan Tree case Judgment is a Landmark for determining the jurisdiction of the court,where neither party to a suit, claiming online copyright infringement, resides within the territorial jurisdiction of such court.
Union Government notified Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. But these Rules have been challenged by various organizations as being violative of Fundamental Rights.

Introduction

Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as “IT Act) was enacted in India to provide legal recognition to transactions carried out through electronic mediums, and to facilitate the electronic filing of documents with the Government Agencies. It was enacted after the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the ‘Model Law on Electronic Commerce’ through a resolution. This Act was largely based on the Model Law that was adopted by the UN.In this article, I will discuss some Important Case Laws inIT Act, of 2000.

Important Case Laws on Information Technology Act, 2000

1. state of tamil nadu v. dr. l prakash (w.p.m.p.no. 10120 of 2002).

In this case, an FIR was registered against Dr. L Prakash under Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000 read with Section 4 & 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women Act, Section 27 of the Arms Act, and Sections 120B & 506 (2) of the IPC. The said case was registered as Dr. L Prakash was accused of making pornographic videos and then sending those to the US & France for publication on pornographic websites.

The Fast Track Court convicted the accused under the aforesaid provisions and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for life. A fine of Rs. 1.27 lakh was also imposed on him.

This case is a landmark in the Cyber Crime Law as it was the first time that pornographic websites and their brokers were targeted in India.

2. Amar Singh v. Union of India [(2011) 4 AWC 3726 SC]

In this case, the petitioner had alleged that his calls were being tapped unauthorizedly by his telecom service provider. He had claimed that the alleged tapping was violating his fundamental right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The service provider had argued that it was complying with the government orders. This case is important in the context of Sections 69, 69A, and 69B of the IT Act, 2000.

The court observed that a telecom service provider performs a function of public nature. It is his inherent duty to act carefully and in a responsible manner. Furthermore, it was observed that when the orders of the government ‘to tap calls’ have gross mistakes, then the service provider must verify the authenticity of such orders. The court also directed the Central Government to frame certain directions/guidelines to prevent unauthorized interception of calls.

3. Nirmaljit Singh Narula v. Indijobs at Hubpages.Com [CS (OS) 871 / 2012]

This case relates to an alleged defamatory article published by Defendant against the Petitioner (popularly known as ‘Nirmal Baba’). It is an important case in the context of Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000 since the petitioner had sent a legal notice to the intermediary, on whose website the ‘defamatory’ article was published. The intermediary refused to remove the ‘defamatory’ article, so the instant case was filed.

The court held that an intermediary is obliged to remove unlawful content from its website if it receives a notice from the affected party, claiming that any illegal content is being circulated through the intermediary’s service. An intermediary is not liable for 3rd party content if it removes such content upon receiving notice.

In this case, an injunction was issued against Defendant barring it from publishing any further defamatory content against the Petitioner, and the intermediary was ordered to produce the IP log of the 3rd party user who had published the ‘defamatory’ article.

4. Vyakti Vikas Kendra, India Public v. Jitender Bagga [CS (OS) No. 1340 / 2012]

It was also a case of online defamation . In this case, it was alleged that the defendants had published online some defamatory material against ‘Shri Ravi Shanker, owner of Art of Living Foundation’. The Petitioners had prayed for damages along with a mandatory & permanent injunction against the Defendants.

The Court observed that an intermediary is bound to comply with Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011. These rules require that an intermediary must not allowthe publication of any defamatory or libelous information on its platform. So, in this case, the court passed an interim order in the favor of the petitioner.

5. Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v. Myspace Inc. [CS (OS) No. 2682/2008]

The plaintiff approached the court as Defendant was allegedly infringing the copyright of the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant’s website generates revenue by making available infringing copies of copyrighted media to the public. It was also contended that the defendant encourages the users to share such type of content with the public.

One of the primary issues between the parties was – Whether the acts of the defendant as an intermediatory are protected under the provisions of Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000.

The court observed that the rights of copyright owners cannot be restricted by Section 79 of the IT Act, 2000. The aforesaid Section does not save the defendants from liability in case of infringing acts due to the proviso of Section 81 of the IT Act.

6. Banyan Tree v. A. Murali Krishna Reddy & Anr, [2010 (42) PTC 361 (Del)]

In this case, the plaintiff had filed a suit claiming that the defendant was passing off its word mark ‘Banyan Tree’ through its online website. In this case, neither the plaintiff nor the Defendant was located within the local limits of Territorial Jurisdiction of the court (before which the suit was brought).

So, the court had to decide on the question that in what circumstances does the hosting of a universally accessible website by the Defendants gives jurisdiction to the forum court, if the Plaintiff is not carrying on business within the territorial jurisdiction of the forum court.

The court answered that for the purposes of a passing-off action, the plaintiff will have to show that the defendant has “purposefully availed” itself of the jurisdiction of the forum court.Further, it will have to be proved by the plaintiff that Defendant operated the website to conclude a commercial transaction with the website users. The plaintiff will also have to show that the operation of such a website resulted in injury to the Plaintiff in the forum state.

7. Writs challenging the validity of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

In 2021, the Union Government notified these rules by using its power under Section 87 of the IT Act, 2000. These rules supersede the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011. With these rules, the Government seeks to regulate the Social Media intermediaries, the Digital news media, and the online streaming platforms.

These rules provide that the social media intermediaries need to follow an internal grievance redressal mechanism. These intermediaries are also required to share the information of the person, who originated an objectionable message in cases of serious offences, with the Government.

The rules provide that the Intermediaries who do not comply with the rules will lose the immunity available to them under Section 79 of the IT Act. Furthermore, the rules require the Digital News Media to follow a code of ethics and also set up an Internal grievance redressal system.

These rules have been challenged by various organizations including WhatsApp, The Quint, LiveLaw, and Foundation for Independent Journalists. The decisions in these cases will determine the further course of the jurisprudence in the field of Information Technology in India.

8. Shreya Singhal v. Union of India [AIR 2015 SC 1523]

In this case, the constitutionality of Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000 was challenged. The petitioner contended that this section infringes their fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. It was submitted that the restrictions imposed by the said section are not even saved or allowed by Article 19 (2) of the Constitution. Another primary contention put forward by the petitioner was that the said section suffers from the vice of vagueness because the terms used in the Section cannot be defined. So, that creates a wide scope for arbitrary and whimsical action by the State against a large number of innocent persons.It was also argued that the said Section violates the Right to Equality provided by Article 14 since the Section unreasonably differentiates between the people who use the internet and the people who use other mediums of communication.

Respondent, on the other hand, argued that the legislature is in the best position to understand the needs of the people. So, the court must not interfere in the legislative process until there is a clear violation of rights provided under Part III of the Constitution of India. It was submitted that the presumption is also in the favor of the constitutionality of a statute and that the mere possibility of abuse of a particular provision of a statute cannot be a valid ground to declare it invalid.

After hearing detailed arguments from both sides, the Hon’ble Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000 in its entirety as being violative of Article 19 (1) (A). It is observed that the said Section is not saved under Article 19 (2).However, the court upheld the constitutional validity of Sections 69A and 79 of the IT Act, 2000 along with the IT (Procedure & Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules, 2009.

9. M/s Gujarat Petrosynthese Ltd &Anr.v. Union of India [2014 (1) Kar L J 121]

This case relates to a writ petition filed by the petitioner praying the court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the appointment of Chairperson to the Cyber Appellate Tribunal (CAT) by the Central Government. The petitioners submitted that due to the absence of the CAT Chairperson, their appeal was not being heard.They, further, submitted that the Government of India hadfailed to take necessary action to make the Cyber Appellate Tribunal operational.By relying on Section 49 of the IT Act, 2000, it was argued that the process of appointment of CAT chairperson must be initiated by the Central Government.

The counsel appearing for the Respondent submitted that the Government would take all the necessary actions for filling up the post of the Chairperson of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal within 6 months from the day of the submission. After hearing the parties, the Karnataka High Court observed that no direction needed to be issued, but it remarked that considering the delay of more than 2 years, the respondent must appoint the CAT Chairperson with a “sense of urgency”.

10. CBI v. Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case) [(2008) 150 DLT 769]

In this case, the accused had stolen the credit card details of Barbara Campa. He then used that stolen card to purchase products from a website (sony-sambandh.com) owned by Sony India Private Limited. When the transaction was disputed by Barbara, the credit card company informed Sony about the same. So, Sony reportedthe case of Internet Fraud and Cheating to the CBI. CBI, on its part, initiated an investigation u/s 418, 419, and 420 of the IPC. The Court convicted the accused under the said Sections for the offence of cyber fraud. This case particularly relates to Section 66C of the IT Act, 2000, which covers the dishonest & fraudulent usage of electronic passwords, signatures,and other unique identification features of any person (Identity Theft).

11. State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti [CC No. 4680 of 2004]

In this case, a complaint was filed by the victim u/s 67 of the IT Act and Section 469 & 509 of the IPC, 1860. It was alleged that the accused posted obscene messages related to the victim in various groups with the intention to harass the woman. He also shared her phone number and created a fake account in her name to cause disrepute to her. The court convicted the accused under the aforementioned Sections. This case is a landmark since it inspired people around the country to come forward and file cases related to harassment on the Internet.

12. SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt Ltd v.Jogesh Kwatra [CM APPL No. 33474 of 2016]

In this case, the defendant was an ex-employee of the plaintiff company. It was alleged that the defendant was sending defamatory, obscene, derogatory, and abusive emails to Plaintiff. The plaintiff submitted that the emails were intended to cause disrepute to its Managing Director. The accused was identified to be the sender of the emails after an investigation by a private computer expert. So, a suit seeking a perpetual injunction against the defendant was filed in the court.However, the said suit was dismissed by the court citing the lack of electronic evidence, linking the derogatory emails with the defendants.

13. Avnish Bajaj v. State (NCT) of Delhi [(2008) 150 DLT 769]

This petition was filed under Section 482, CrPC for getting annulled the criminal prosecution initiated against the Managing Director of a Company/Website (baazee.com) under Section 292 of the IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act, 2000. The Website provided an online marketplace for buyers and sellers to interact.The Petitioner argued that since the Website Company was not made an accused in the case, the petitioner could not be made liable with the aid of Section 85, IT Act. The respondent-State, on the other hand, argued that since the petitioner failed to ensure an adequate filter on its website for filtering obscene content, so, he cannot escape legal consequences. It was also submitted that the crime is grievous and must not go unpunished based on some technicalities.

The court observed that the IPC does not recognize the concept of an automatic criminal liability attaching to the director where the company is an accused. So, the petitioner was discharged from offences under the IPC. However, regarding the liability of the petitioner under Section 67 of the IT Act, the court observed that the law recognizes the deemed criminal liability of the directors even if the company is not arraigned as an accused in a case. So, it was held that the prosecution of the petitioner under Section 67 read with Section 85, IT Act will continue.

14. Christian Louboutin SAS v. Nakul Bajaj &Ors [(2018) 253 DLT 728]

One of the primary issues before the court, in this case, was whether Defendant was protected u/s 79 of the IT Actto use thePlaintiff’s trademark, images, and logos. The court observed that Defendant’s website (Darveys.com) exercised complete control over the products it sold and its role is much more than that of just an intermediary. To enjoy immunity u/s 79 of the IT Act, e-commerce websites must operate with care & caution. The basic thumb rule to claim exemption u/s 79 of the IT Act, is to ensure that the entity does not actively participate in the selling process.

15. Nasscom v. Ajay Sood & Ors. [119 (2005) DLT 596]

This is a case of Cheating by personation by using a computer resource under Section 66D, IT Act, 2000. In this case, the petitioner had prayed for a permanent injunction against the defendant, restraining him from sending “fraudulent Emails” under the trademark ‘NASSCOM” belonging to the petitioner. It was alleged that the defendants were posing as NASSCOM to obtain personal data from various addresses for head-hunting. The parties, later, on compromised and a consent decree was passed. This is a landmark judgment because the court declared ‘phishing’ on the internet to be an illegal act, against which an ‘injunction’ could be granted and damages could also be awarded. The court described ‘Phishing’ as a form of internet fraud where a person misrepresents the identity of a legitimate party (like a bank or an insurance company) to extract personal data from a user. It also deliberated upon the fact that there is no legislation in India dealing particularly with ‘phishing’.

16. Department of Electronics and Information Technology v. Star India Pvt. Ltd. [R.P. 131/2016 in FAO(OS) 57/2015]

This case dealt with the live telecast of cricket matches. The primary issue between the parties was regarding the extent of the ban that could be imposed on the website of a person infringing the trademark of another.The respondent pushed for a ‘domain’ ban, citing that it is relatively easy for ‘internet pirates’ to change the URLs of the infringing content as compared to the domain names. The court observed that the websites which are known to be rogue i.e., the ones that host “predominantly infringing content”, could be blocked completely, rather than resorting to URL blocking.The court described such websites to be ‘rogue’ that is hardly carrying on any lawful business and in their entirety/to a large extent are resorting to piracy.

17. Kent Systems Ltd. and Ors. v. Amit Kotak and Ors. 2017 (69) PTC 551 (Del)

In this case, the court observed that the IT Rules, do not oblige an intermediary to screen/remove all content/information hosted on its portal for infringement of rights of all persons who have complained to the intermediary at any point in time. The only obligation is to remove the infringing information/content upon receipt of a complaint from the Rights Holder. The court ultimately concluded that to require an intermediary to do compulsory screening of infringing content would amount to unreasonable interference with the right of the said intermediary to carry on its business.

18. Google India Pvt. Ltd. v. M/S Vishaka Industries Limited [Second Appeal No. 505 of 2016]

The basic facts of the case were that a person had published certain defamatory articles aimed at the Respondent and some politicians of the country, in a group hosted by Google (Appellant). The respondent had issued a notice to the Appellant to block the aforementioned defamatory content, but the appellant did not make any effort in that regard.Keeping that in regard, the High Court passed an order in the favor of the Respondent while observing that the Petitioner could not claim any exemption under Section 79 of the IT Act.

19. State v. Mohd. Afzal & Ors. [2003 (71) DRJ 178]

This is an important case concerning Section 2 (ha) of the IT Act, 2000 that defines ‘Communication Device’. It relates to the trial of the persons accused in the 2001 Parliament House Attack. It was argued by the accused that computers &digital evidence could not be regarded as reliable, as they could be easily tampered with. So, they claimed it to be unreliable for a criminal trial. The Court dismissed the contentions of the accused by observing that the misuse or tampering of the evidence has to be established by the challenger.Further, it was held that the theoretical and generic doubts could not be cast on the evidence of the prosecution.

20. Syed Asifuddin& Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Anr. [2005 Cr LJ 4314]

This case relates to the tampering of low-cost hand sets that were being handed out by the Reliance Infocomm, with a lock-in period of 3 years. The petitioners, in this case, were accused of an offence under section 65 of the IT Act, for allegedly tampering with the source code of the aforesaid Reliance Infocomm handsets to wean away customers from Reliance Infocommto TATA Indicom. The petitioners, in the instant petition, prayed for the quashing of the criminal investigation. However, the court observed that unless the investigation is shown to be illegal, it cannot ordinarily be quashed. So, the court refused to quash the investigation under section 65 of the IT Act, 2000 and directed the police to complete the investigation within a period of 3 months.

21. Dharamvir v. Central Bureau of Investigation [148 (2008) DLT 289]

This case primarily relates to ‘Electronic Record’ defined under section2 (t) of the IT Act, 2000. In this case, the main question before the court was that of the admissibility & reliability of the digital evidence in a legal proceeding. A CD was presented before the court that contained telephonic conversations copied from a hard disk.The court observed that the recording of the telephone call and the hard disks constitute electronic records that can be used as evidence.

22. P.R Transport Agency v. Union of India & Ors. [AIR 2006 All 23]

This case relates to Section 13 (5) of the IT Act, 2000. In this case, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. held an e-auction for coal. The petitioner’s bid was accepted for a particular lot of coal and the letter of acceptance was issued by email to the petitioner. Later on, some conflict arose andthe allocation was canceled. So, petitioners approached the High Court of Allahabad. The Bharat Coking Ltd. put up an objection regarding the jurisdiction of the Court, contending that no part of the cause of action arose within Uttar Pradesh. The Court observed that since the acceptance was received at Varanasi (UP), it had the jurisdiction to entertain the case. Further, it was observed that for the purpose of Section 13 (5) of the IT Act, the place of business is relevant and not the location of the information system.

23. Umashankar Sivasubramanian v. ICICI Bank (Petition No. 2462 of 2008)

In this case, the petitioner received an email from ICICI Bank asking for his Internet Banking username and password. The petitioner replied to the email with the aforementioned details and later on found that he was defrauded of Rs. 6.46 Lakhs. So, he filed a complaint against ICICI Bank with the adjudicating authority for getting compensation. The Adjudicating Authority found ICICI Bank to be guilty of offences under section 85 read with Section 43 of the IT Act, 2000 and directed it to pay Rs. 12.85 lakh to the petitioner.

In this way, various courts around the country have interpreted the provisions of the IT Act, 2000 according to the facts and circumstances of the particular cases. Along with the provisions of the IT Act, the rules notified by the Government also play a significant role in regulating the digital space.With the rapid advent of technology, Cyber Laws are becoming more and more relevant. There is a need for these laws to keep evolving with the latest developments in Information Technology.

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IT Act 2000 – Penalties, Offences With Case Studies

June 24, 2014 Lionel Faleiro Case Studies , Compliance , Laws & Regulations 6

Objectives of IT legislation in India

The Government of India enacted its Information Technology Act 2000 with the objectives stating officially as:

“to provide legal recognition for transactions carried out by means of electronic data interchange and other means of electronic communication, commonly referred to as “electronic commerce”, which involve the use of alternatives to paper-based methods of communication and storage of information, to facilitate electronic filing of documents with the Government agencies and further to amend the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the Bankers’ Books Evidence Act, 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

What does IT Act 2000 legislation deals with? The Act essentially deals with the following issues:

Legal Recognition of Electronic Documents
Legal Recognition of Digital Signatures
Offenses and Contraventions
Justice Dispensation Systems for cyber crimes.

Why did the need for IT Amendment Act 2008 (ITAA) arise? The IT Act 2000, being the first legislation on technology, computers, e-commerce and e-communication, the was the subject of extensive debates, elaborate reviews with one arm of the industry criticizing some sections of the Act to be draconian and other stating it is too diluted and lenient. There were some obvious omissions too resulting in the investigators relying more and more on the time-tested (one and half century-old) Indian Penal Code even in technology based cases with the IT Act also being referred in the process with the reliance more on IPC rather on the ITA.

Thus the need for an amendment – a detailed one – was felt for the I.T. Act. Major industry bodies were consulted and advisory groups were formed to go into the perceived lacunae in the I.T. Act and comparing it with similar legislations in other nations and to suggest recommendations. Such recommendations were analyzed and subsequently taken up as a comprehensive Amendment Act and after considerable administrative procedures, the consolidated amendment called the Information Technology Amendment Act 2008 was placed in the Parliament and passed at the end of 2008 (just after Mumbai terrorist attack of 26 November 2008 had taken place). The IT Amendment Act 2008 got the President assent on 5 Feb 2009 and was made effective from 27 October 2009.

Notable features of the ITAA 2008 are:

Focusing on data privacy
Focusing on Information Security
Defining cyber café
Making digital signature technology neutral
Defining reasonable security practices to be followed by corporate
Redefining the role of intermediaries
Recognizing the role of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
Inclusion of some additional cyber crimes like child pornography and cyber terrorism
Authorizing an Inspector to investigate cyber offenses (as against the DSP earlier)

Structure of IT Act

How is IT Act structured? The Act totally has 13 chapters and 90 sections. Sections 91 to 94 deal with the amendments to the four Acts namely Indian Penal Code 1860, The Indian Evidence Act 1872, The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1891 and the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934. The Act has chapters that deal with authentication of electronic records, electronic signatures etc. Elaborate procedures for certifying authorities and electronic signatures have been spelt out. The civil offence of data theft and the process of adjudication and appellate procedures have been described. Then the Act goes on to define and describe some of the well-known cyber crimes and lays down the punishments therefore. Then the concept of due diligence, role of intermediaries and some miscellaneous provisions have been described.
Negotiable instrument (other than a cheque) as defined in section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881;
A power-of-attorney as defined in section 1A of the Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882;
A trust as defined in section 3 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882
A will as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 including any other testamentary disposition

What is a cyber crime?

Cyber Crime is not defined officially in IT Act or in any other legislation. In fact, it cannot be too. Offence or crime has been dealt with elaborately listing various acts and the punishments for each, under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and related legislations. Hence, the concept of cyber crime is just a “combination of crime and computer”.

Cybercrime in a narrow sense (computer crime): Any illegal behavior directed by means of electronic operations that targets the security of computer systems and the data processed by them.

Cybercrime in a broader sense (computer-related crime): Any illegal behavior committed by means of, or in relation to, a computer system or network, including such crimes as illegal possession and offering or distributing information by means of a computer system or network.

Any contract for the sale or conveyance of immovable property or any interest in such property;
Any such class of documents or transactions as may be notified by the Central Government

Cases Studies as per selected IT Act Sections

Here are the case studies for selected IT Act sections.

For the sake of simplicity and maintaining clarity, details on the IT Act sections have been omitted. Kindly refer the Appendix at the last section for the detailed account of all the penalties and offences mentioned in IT Act.

Section 43 – Penalty and Compensation for damage to computer, computer system, etc Related Case: Mphasis BPO Fraud: 2005 In December 2004, four call centre employees, working at an outsourcing facility operated by MphasiS in India, obtained PIN codes from four customers of MphasiS’ client, Citi Group. These employees were not authorized to obtain the PINs. In association with others, the call centre employees opened new accounts at Indian banks using false identities. Within two months, they used the PINs and account information gleaned during their employment at MphasiS to transfer money from the bank accounts of CitiGroup customers to the new accounts at Indian banks. By April 2005, the Indian police had tipped off to the scam by a U.S. bank, and quickly identified the individuals involved in the scam. Arrests were made when those individuals attempted to withdraw cash from the falsified accounts, $426,000 was stolen; the amount recovered was $230,000. Verdict : Court held that Section 43(a) was applicable here due to the nature of unauthorized access involved to commit transactions.
Section 65 – Tampering with Computer Source Documents Related Case: Syed Asifuddin and Ors. Vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh In this case, Tata Indicom employees were arrested for manipulation of the electronic 32- bit number (ESN) programmed into cell phones theft were exclusively franchised to Reliance Infocomm. Verdict : Court held that tampering with source code invokes Section 65 of the Information Technology Act.
Section 66 – Computer Related offenses Related Case: Kumar v/s Whiteley In this case the accused gained unauthorized access to the Joint Academic Network (JANET) and deleted, added files and changed the passwords to deny access to the authorized users.Investigations had revealed that Kumar was logging on to the BSNL broadband Internet connection as if he was the authorized genuine user and ‘made alteration in the computer database pertaining to broadband Internet user accounts’ of the subscribers.The CBI had registered a cyber crime case against Kumar and carried out investigations on the basis of a complaint by the Press Information Bureau, Chennai, which detected the unauthorised use of broadband Internet. The complaint also stated that the subscribers had incurred a loss of Rs 38,248 due to Kumar’s wrongful act. He used to ‘hack’ sites from Bangalore, Chennai and other cities too, they said. Verdict: The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, Chennai, sentenced N G Arun Kumar, the techie from Bangalore to undergo a rigorous imprisonment for one year with a fine of Rs 5,000 under section 420 IPC (cheating) and Section 66 of IT Act (Computer related Offense).
Relevant Case #1: Fake profile of President posted by imposter On September 9, 2010, the imposter made a fake profile in the name of the Hon’ble President Pratibha Devi Patil. A complaint was made from Additional Controller, President Household, President Secretariat regarding the four fake profiles created in the name of Hon’ble President on social networking website, Facebook.The said complaint stated that president house has nothing to do with the facebook and the fake profile is misleading the general public. The First Information Report Under Sections 469 IPC and 66A Information Technology Act, 2000 was registered based on the said complaint at the police station, Economic Offences Wing, the elite wing of Delhi Police which specializes in investigating economic crimes including cyber offences.
Relevant Case #2: Bomb Hoax mail In 2009, a 15-year-old Bangalore teenager was arrested by the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the city crime branch for allegedly sending a hoax e-mail to a private news channel. In the e-mail, he claimed to have planted five bombs in Mumbai, challenging the police to find them before it was too late. At around 1p.m. on May 25, the news channel received an e-mail that read: “I have planted five bombs in Mumbai; you have two hours to find it.” The police, who were alerted immediately, traced the Internet Protocol (IP) address to Vijay Nagar in Bangalore. The Internet service provider for the account was BSNL, said officials.
The CEO of an identity theft protection company, Lifelock, Todd Davis’s social security number was exposed by Matt Lauer on NBC’s Today Show. Davis’ identity was used to obtain a $500 cash advance loan.
Li Ming, a graduate student at West Chester University of Pennsylvania faked his own death, complete with a forged obituary in his local paper. Nine months later, Li attempted to obtain a new driver’s license with the intention of applying for new credit cards eventually.
Section 66D – Punishment for cheating by impersonation by using computer resource Relevant Case: Sandeep Vaghese v/s State of Kerala A complaint filed by the representative of a Company, which was engaged in the business of trading and distribution of petrochemicals in India and overseas, a crime was registered against nine persons, alleging offenses under Sections 65, 66, 66A, C and D of the Information Technology Act along with Sections 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code. The company has a web-site in the name and and style `www.jaypolychem.com’ but, another web site `www.jayplychem.org’ was set up in the internet by first accused Samdeep Varghese @ Sam, (who was dismissed from the company) in conspiracy with other accused, including Preeti and Charanjeet Singh, who are the sister and brother-in-law of `Sam’ Defamatory and malicious matters about the company and its directors were made available in that website. The accused sister and brother-in-law were based in Cochin and they had been acting in collusion known and unknown persons, who have collectively cheated the company and committed acts of forgery, impersonation etc. Two of the accused, Amardeep Singh and Rahul had visited Delhi and Cochin. The first accused and others sent e-mails from fake e-mail accounts of many of the customers, suppliers, Bank etc. to malign the name and image of the Company and its Directors. The defamation campaign run by all the said persons named above has caused immense damage to the name and reputation of the Company. The Company suffered losses of several crores of Rupees from producers, suppliers and customers and were unable to do business.
Jawaharlal Nehru University MMS scandal In a severe shock to the prestigious and renowned institute – Jawaharlal Nehru University, a pornographic MMS clip was apparently made in the campus and transmitted outside the university.Some media reports claimed that the two accused students initially tried to extort money from the girl in the video but when they failed the culprits put the video out on mobile phones, on the internet and even sold it as a CD in the blue film market.
Nagpur Congress leader’s son MMS scandal On January 05, 2012 Nagpur Police arrested two engineering students, one of them a son of a Congress leader, for harassing a 16-year-old girl by circulating an MMS clip of their sexual acts. According to the Nagpur (rural) police, the girl was in a relationship with Mithilesh Gajbhiye, 19, son of Yashodha Dhanraj Gajbhiye, a zila parishad member and an influential Congress leader of Saoner region in Nagpur district.
Section-66F Cyber Terrorism Relevant Case: The Mumbai police have registered a case of ‘cyber terrorism’—the first in the state since an amendment to the Information Technology Act—where a threat email was sent to the BSE and NSE on Monday. The MRA Marg police and the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell are jointly probing the case. The suspect has been detained in this case.The police said an email challenging the security agencies to prevent a terror attack was sent by one Shahab Md with an ID [email protected] to BSE’s administrative email ID [email protected] at around 10.44 am on Monday.The IP address of the sender has been traced to Patna in Bihar. The ISP is Sify. The email ID was created just four minutes before the email was sent. “The sender had, while creating the new ID, given two mobile numbers in the personal details column. Both the numbers belong to a photo frame-maker in Patna,’’ said an officer. Status: The MRA Marg police have registered forgery for purpose of cheating, criminal intimidation cases under the IPC and a cyber-terrorism case under the IT Act.
As per 469 of IPC he has to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and to pay fine of Rs.500/-
As per 509 of IPC he is to undergo to undergo 1 year Simple imprisonment and to pay Rs 500/-
As per Section 67 of IT Act 2000, he has to undergo for 2 years and to pay fine of Rs.4000/-
Section 67B – Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form Relevant Case: Janhit Manch & Ors. v. The Union of India 10.03.2010 Public Interest Litigation: The petition sought a blanket ban on pornographic websites. The NGO had argued that websites displaying sexually explicit content had an adverse influence, leading youth on a delinquent path.
Section 69 – Powers to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource Relevant Case: In August 2007, Lakshmana Kailash K., a techie from Bangalore was arrested on the suspicion of having posted insulting images of Chhatrapati Shivaji, a major historical figure in the state of Maharashtra, on the social-networking site Orkut.The police identified him based on IP address details obtained from Google and Airtel -Lakshmana’s ISP. He was brought to Pune and detained for 50 days before it was discovered that the IP address provided by Airtel was erroneous. The mistake was evidently due to the fact that while requesting information from Airtel, the police had not properly specified whether the suspect had posted the content at 1:15 p.m. Verdict: Taking cognizance of his plight from newspaper accounts, the State Human Rights Commission subsequently ordered the company to pay Rs 2 lakh to Lakshmana as damages. The incident highlights how minor privacy violations by ISPs and intermediaries could have impacts that gravely undermine other basic human rights.

Common Cyber-crime scenarios and Applicability of Legal Sections

Let us look into some common cyber-crime scenarios which can attract prosecution as per the penalties and offences prescribed in IT Act 2000 (amended via 2008) Act.

Harassment via fake public profile on social networking site A fake profile of a person is created on a social networking site with the correct address, residential information or contact details but he/she is labelled as ‘prostitute’ or a person of ‘loose character’. This leads to harassment of the victim. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 66A, 67 of IT Act and Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
Online Hate Community Online hate community is created inciting a religious group to act or pass objectionable remarks against a country, national figures etc. Provisions Applicable: Section 66A of IT Act and 153A & 153B of the Indian Penal Code.
Email Account Hacking If victim’s email account is hacked and obscene emails are sent to people in victim’s address book. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 43, 66, 66A, 66C, 67, 67A and 67B of IT Act.
Credit Card Fraud Unsuspecting victims would use infected computers to make online transactions. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 43, 66, 66C, 66D of IT Act and section 420 of the IPC.
Web Defacement The homepage of a website is replaced with a pornographic or defamatory page. Government sites generally face the wrath of hackers on symbolic days. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 43 and 66 of IT Act and Sections 66F, 67 and 70 of IT Act also apply in some cases.
Introducing Viruses, Worms, Backdoors, Rootkits, Trojans, Bugs All of the above are some sort of malicious programs which are used to destroy or gain access to some electronic information. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 43, 66, 66A of IT Act and Section 426 of Indian Penal Code.
Cyber Terrorism Many terrorists are use virtual(GDrive, FTP sites) and physical storage media(USB’s, hard drives) for hiding information and records of their illicit business. Provisions Applicable: Conventional terrorism laws may apply along with Section 69 of IT Act.
Online sale of illegal Articles Where sale of narcotics, drugs weapons and wildlife is facilitated by the Internet Provisions Applicable:- Generally conventional laws apply in these cases.
Cyber Pornography Among the largest businesses on Internet. Pornography may not be illegal in many countries, but child pornography is. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 67, 67A and 67B of the IT Act.
Phishing and Email Scams Phishing involves fraudulently acquiring sensitive information through masquerading a site as a trusted entity. (E.g. Passwords, credit card information) Provisions Applicable:- Section 66, 66A and 66D of IT Act and Section 420 of IPC
Theft of Confidential Information Many business organizations store their confidential information in computer systems. This information is targeted by rivals, criminals and disgruntled employees. Provisions Applicable:- Sections 43, 66, 66B of IT Act and Section 426 of Indian Penal Code.
Source Code Theft A Source code generally is the most coveted and important “crown jewel” asset of a company. Provisions applicable:- Sections 43, 66, 66B of IT Act and Section 63 of Copyright Act.
Tax Evasion and Money Laundering Money launderers and people doing illegal business activities hide their information in virtual as well as physical activities. Provisions Applicable: Income Tax Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. IT Act may apply case-wise.
Online Share Trading Fraud It has become mandatory for investors to have their demat accounts linked with their online banking accounts which are generally accessed unauthorized, thereby leading to share trading frauds. Provisions Applicable: Sections 43, 66, 66C, 66D of IT Act and Section 420 of IPC
Accesses or secures access to such computer, computer system or computer network or computer resource
Downloads, copies or extracts any data, computer data, computer database or information from such computer, computer system or computer network including information or data held or stored in any removable storage medium;
Introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or computer virus into any computer, computer system or computer network-
Damages or causes to be damaged any computer, computer system or computer network, data, computer database, or any other programmes residing in such computer, computer system or computer network-
Disrupts or causes disruption of any computer, computer system, or computer network;
Denies or causes the denial of access to any person authorised to access any computer, computer system or computer network by any means
Charges the services availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering with or manipulating any computer of a computer, computer system or computer network-
Provides any assistance to any person to facilitate access to a computer, computer system or computer network in contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made there under,
Charges the services availed of by a person to the account of another person by tampering with or manipulating any computer, computer system, or computer network,
Destroys, deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means,
Steals, conceals, destroys or alters or causes any person to steal, conceal, destroy or alter any computer source code used for a computer resource with an intention to cause damage,
Section 43A – Compensation for failure to protect data Where a body corporate, possessing, dealing or handling any sensitive personal data or information in a computer resource which it owns, controls or operates, is negligent in implementing and maintaining reasonable security practices and procedures and thereby causes wrongful loss or wrongful gain to any person, such body corporate shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation, not exceeding five crore rupees, to the person so affected.
Furnish any document, return or report to the Controller or the Certifying Authority, fails to furnish the same, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one lakh and fifty thousand rupees for each such failure;
File any return or furnish any information, books or other documents within the time specified therefore in the regulations, fails to file return or furnish the same within the time specified therefore in the regulations, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five thousand rupees for every day during which such failure continues:
Maintain books of account or records, fails to maintain the same, he shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten thousand rupees for every day during which the failure continues.
Section 45 – Residuary Penalty Whoever contravenes any rules or regulations made under this Act, for the contravention of which no penalty has been separately provided,shall be liable to pay a compensation not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees to the person affected by such contravention or a penalty not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees.
The amount of gain of unfair advantage, wherever quantifiable, made as a result of the default;
The amount of loss caused to the person as a result of the default,
The repetitive nature of the default.
Section 65 – Tampering with Computer Source Documents If any person knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys code or alters or causes another to conceal, destroy code or alter any computer, computer program, computer system, or computer network,he shall be punishable with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine up to two lakh rupees, or with both.
Section – 66 Computer Related Offences If any person, dishonestly, or fraudulently, does any act referred to in section 43,he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two three years or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or with both.
Any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character;
Any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will, persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device,
Any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages
Section 66B – Punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device. Whoever dishonestly receives or retains any stolen computer resource or communication device knowing or having reason to believe the same to be stolen computer resource or communication device,shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to rupees one lakh or with both.
Section 66C – Punishment for identity theft Whoever, fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person,shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to rupees one lakh.
Section 66D – Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource cheats by personating; shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to one lakh rupees.
“transmit” means to electronically send a visual image with the intent that it be viewed by a person or persons;
“capture”, with respect to an image, means to videotape, photograph, film or record by any means;
“private area” means the naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast;
“publishes” means reproduction in the printed or electronic form and making it available for public;
he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that an image of his private area was being captured; or
any part of his or her private area would not be visible to the public, regardless of whether that person is in a public or private place.
denying or cause the denial of access to any person authorized to access computer resource; or
attempting to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorization or exceeding authorized access; or
introducing or causing to introduce any Computer Contaminant and by means of such conduct causes or is likely to cause death or injuries to persons or damage to or destruction of property or disrupts or knowing that it is likely to cause damage or disruption of supplies or services essential to the life of the community or adversely affect the critical information infrastructure specified under section 70, or
knowingly or intentionally penetrates or accesses a computer resource without authorization or exceeding authorized access, and by means of such conduct obtains access to information, data or computer database that is restricted for reasons of the security of the State or foreign relations; or any restricted information, data or computer database, with reasons to believe that such information, data or computer database so obtained may be used to cause or likely to cause injury to the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence, or to the advantage of any foreign nation, group of individuals or otherwise, commits the offence of cyber terrorism.
Whoever commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life.
Section 67 – Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it,shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two three years and with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees andin the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
Section 67A – Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conductshall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees andin the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees.
publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted material in any electronic form which depicts children engaged in sexually explicit act or conduct or
creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner or
cultivates, entices or induces children to online relationship with one or more children for and on sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resource or
facilitates abusing children online or
records in any electronic form own abuse or that of others pertaining to sexually explicit act with children,
Where the central Government or a State Government or any of its officer specially authorized by the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, in this behalf may, if is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient to do in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defence of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above or for investigation of any offence, it may, subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order, direct any agency of the appropriate Government to intercept, monitor or decrypt or cause to be intercepted or monitored or decrypted any information transmitted received or stored through any computer resource.
The Procedure and safeguards subject to which such interception or monitoring or decryption may be carried out, shall be such as may be prescribed.
provide access to or secure access to the computer resource generating, transmitting, receiving or storing such information; or
intercept or monitor or decrypt the information, as the case may be; or
provide information stored in computer resource.
The subscriber or intermediary or any person who fails to assist the agency referred to in sub-section (3) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
Where the Central Government or any of its officer specially authorized by it in this behalf is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient so to do in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence relating to above, it may subject to the provisions of sub-sections (2) for reasons to be recorded in writing, by order direct any agency of the Government or intermediary to block access by the public or cause to be blocked for access by public any information generated, transmitted, received, stored or hosted in any computer resource.
The procedure and safeguards subject to which such blocking for access by the public may be carried out shall be such as may be prescribed.
The intermediary who fails to comply with the direction issued under sub-section (1) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and also be liable to fine.
The Central Government may, to enhance Cyber Security and for identification, analysis and prevention of any intrusion or spread of computer contaminant in the country, by notification in the official Gazette, authorize any agency of the Government to monitor and collect traffic data or information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource.
The Intermediary or any person in-charge of the Computer resource shall when called upon by the agency which has been authorized under sub-section (1), provide technical assistance and extend all facilities to such agency to enable online access or to secure and provide online access to the computer resource generating, transmitting, receiving or storing such traffic data or information.
The procedure and safeguards for monitoring and collecting traffic data or information, shall be such as may be prescribed.
Any intermediary who intentionally or knowingly contravenes the provisions of subsection (2) shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.
Section 71 – Penalty for misrepresentation Whoever makes any misrepresentation to, or suppresses any material fact from, the Controller or the Certifying Authority for obtaining any license or Electronic Signature Certificate, as the case may be,shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
Section 72 – Breach of confidentiality and privacy Any person who, in pursuant of any of the powers conferred under this Act, rules or regulations made there under, has secured access to any electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material without the consent of the person concerned discloses such electronic record, book, register, correspondence, information, document or other material to any other person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
Section 72A – Punishment for Disclosure of information in breach of lawful contract Any person including an intermediary who, while providing services under the terms of lawful contract, has secured access to any material containing personal information about another person, with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or wrongful gain discloses, without the consent of the person concerned, or in breach of a lawful contract, such material to any other person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with a fine which may extend to five lakh rupees, or with both.
the Certifying Authority listed in the certificate has not issued it; or
the subscriber listed in the certificate has not accepted it; or
the certificate has been revoked or suspended, unless such publication is for the purpose of verifying a digital signature created prior to such suspension or revocation
Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
Section 74 – Publication for fraudulent purpose: Whoever knowingly creates, publishes or otherwise makes available a Electronic Signature Certificate for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), the provisions of this Act shall apply also to any offence or contravention committed outside India by any person irrespective of his nationality.
For the purposes of sub-section (1), this Act shall apply to an offence or contravention committed outside India by any person if the act or conduct constituting the offence or contravention involves a computer, computer system or computer network located in India.
A Court of competent jurisdiction may compound offences other than offences for which the punishment for life or imprisonment for a term exceeding three years has been provided under this Act.Provided further that the Court shall not compound any offence where such offence affects the socio-economic conditions of the country or has been committed against a child below the age of 18 years or a woman.
The person accused of an offence under this act may file an application for compounding in the court in which offence is pending for trial and the provisions of section 265 B and 265C of Code of Criminal Procedures, 1973 shall apply.
Section 77B – Offences with three years imprisonment to be cognizable Notwithstanding anything contained in Criminal Procedure Code 1973, the offence punishable with imprisonment of three years and above shall be cognizable and the offence punishable with imprisonment of three years shall be bailable.
Section 78 – Power to investigate offences Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a police officer not below the rank of Inspector shall investigate any offence under this Act.

Experience of over a decade in the IT and CyberSecurity domain. A cyber-detective by nature, and has solved numerous cyberattack-cases during his tenure at Network Intelligence. When not solving cybercrimes, he enjoys video-games and photography.

Hi, somebody used my official mail account to send confidential information to competitor company. Company filed legal case against me under section 72A and 66. Is there any case under similar circumstances before, how can i prove myself not guilty. Pls suggest.

The law defines the offenses in a detailed manner along with the penalties for each category of offence.

Good work. Dear Sir/Madam. If someone attempted to have unauthorized access to my email account from a remote area (I have the suspicious IP address as notified by google security mechanism), can I do something as per IT law against him? Please quote the specific act/rule.

how can we apply and where we have to apply for this act and have license for the same.

Excellent job for pub.information Thanks

Detailed and informative! Overall an excellent article.

Comments are closed.

Landmark Cyber Law cases in India

Post author By ashwin
Post date March 1, 2021

By:-Muskan Sharma

Introduction

Cyber Law, as the name suggests, deals with statutory provisions that regulate Cyberspace. With the advent of digitalization and AI (Artificial Intelligence), there is a significant rise in Cyber Crimes being registered. Around 44, 546 cases were registered under the Cyber Crime head in 2019 as compared to 27, 248 cases in 2018. Therefore, a spike of 63.5% was observed in Cyber Crimes [1] .

The legislative framework concerning Cyber Law in India comprises the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as the “ IT Act ”) and the Rules made thereunder. The IT Act is the parent legislation that provides for various forms of Cyber Crimes, punishments to be inflicted thereby, compliances for intermediaries, and so on.

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However, the IT Act is not exhaustive of the Cyber Law regime that exists in India. There are some judgments that have evolved the Cyber Law regime in India to a great extent. To fully understand the scope of the Cyber Law regime, it is pertinent to refer to the following landmark Cyber Law cases in India:

Shreya Singhal v. UOI [2]

In the instant case, the validity of Section 66A of the IT Act was challenged before the Supreme Court.

Facts: Two women were arrested under Section 66A of the IT Act after they posted allegedly offensive and objectionable comments on Facebook concerning the complete shutdown of Mumbai after the demise of a political leader. Section 66A of the IT Act provides punishment if any person using a computer resource or communication, such information which is offensive, false, or causes annoyance, inconvenience, danger, insult, hatred, injury, or ill will.

The women, in response to the arrest, filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of Section 66A of the IT Act on the ground that it is violative of the freedom of speech and expression.

Decision: The Supreme Court based its decision on three concepts namely: discussion, advocacy, and incitement. It observed that mere discussion or even advocacy of a cause, no matter how unpopular, is at the heart of the freedom of speech and expression. It was found that Section 66A was capable of restricting all forms of communication and it contained no distinction between mere advocacy or discussion on a particular cause which is offensive to some and incitement by such words leading to a causal connection to public disorder, security, health, and so on.

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In response to the question of whether Section 66A attempts to protect individuals from defamation, the Court said that Section 66A condemns offensive statements that may be annoying to an individual but not affecting his reputation.

However, the Court also noted that Section 66A of the IT Act is not violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution because there existed an intelligible difference between information communicated through the internet and through other forms of speech. Also, the Apex Court did not even address the challenge of procedural unreasonableness because it is unconstitutional on substantive grounds.

Shamsher Singh Verma v. State of Haryana [3]

In this case, the accused preferred an appeal before the Supreme Court after the High Court rejected the application of the accused to exhibit the Compact Disc filed in defence and to get it proved from the Forensic Science Laboratory.

The Supreme Court held that a Compact Disc is also a document. It further observed that it is not necessary to obtain admission or denial concerning a document under Section 294 (1) of CrPC personally from the accused, the complainant, or the witness.

Syed Asifuddin and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Anr. [4]

Facts: The subscriber purchased a Reliance handset and Reliance mobile services together under the Dhirubhai Ambani Pioneer Scheme. The subscriber was attracted by better tariff plans of other service providers and hence, wanted to shift to other service providers. The petitioners (staff members of TATA Indicom) hacked the Electronic Serial Number (hereinafter referred to as “ESN”). The Mobile Identification Number (MIN) of Reliance handsets were irreversibly integrated with ESN, the reprogramming of ESN made the device would be validated by Petitioner’s service provider and not by Reliance Infocomm.

Questions before the Court: i) Whether a telephone handset is a “Computer” under Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act?

ii) Whether manipulation of ESN programmed into a mobile handset amounts to an alteration of source code under Section 65 of the IT Act?

Decision: (i) Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act provides that a “computer” means any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other high-speed data processing device or system which performs logical, arithmetic, and memory functions by manipulations of electronic, magnetic, or optical impulses, and includes all input, output, processing, storage, computer software or communication facilities which are connected or related to the computer in a computer system or computer network. Hence, a telephone handset is covered under the ambit of “computer” as defined under Section 2(1)(i) of the IT Act.

(ii) Alteration of ESN makes exclusively used handsets usable by other service providers like TATA Indicomm. Therefore, alteration of ESN is an offence under Section 65 of the IT Act because every service provider has to maintain its own SID code and give its customers a specific number to each instrument used to avail the services provided. Therefore, the offence registered against the petitioners cannot be quashed with regard to Section 65 of the IT Act.

Shankar v. State Rep [5]

Facts: The petitioner approached the Court under Section 482, CrPC to quash the charge sheet filed against him. The petitioner secured unauthorized access to the protected system of the Legal Advisor of Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and was charged under Sections 66, 70, and 72 of the IT Act.

Decision: The Court observed that the charge sheet filed against the petitioner cannot be quashed with respect to the law concerning non-granting of sanction of prosecution under Section 72 of the IT Act.

Christian Louboutin SAS v. Nakul Bajaj & Ors . [6]

Facts: The Complainant, a Luxury shoes manufacturer filed a suit seeking an injunction against an e-commerce portal www.darveys.com for indulging in a Trademark violation with the seller of spurious goods.

The question before the Court was whether the defendant’s use of the plaintiff’s mark, logos, and image are protected under Section 79 of the IT Act.

Decision: The Court observed that the defendant is more than an intermediary on the ground that the website has full control over the products being sold via its platform. It first identifies and then promotes third parties to sell their products. The Court further said that active participation by an e-commerce platform would exempt it from the rights provided to intermediaries under Section 79 of the IT Act.

Avnish Bajaj v. State (NCT) of Delhi [7]

Facts: Avnish Bajaj, the CEO of Bazee.com was arrested under Section 67 of the IT Act for the broadcasting of cyber pornography. Someone else had sold copies of a CD containing pornographic material through the bazee.com website.

Decision: The Court noted that Mr. Bajaj was nowhere involved in the broadcasting of pornographic material. Also, the pornographic material could not be viewed on the Bazee.com website. But Bazee.com receives a commission from the sales and earns revenue for advertisements carried on via its web pages.

The Court further observed that the evidence collected indicates that the offence of cyber pornography cannot be attributed to Bazee.com but to some other person. The Court granted bail to Mr. Bajaj subject to the furnishing of 2 sureties Rs. 1 lakh each. However, the burden lies on the accused that he was merely the service provider and does not provide content.

State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti [8]

The instant case is a landmark case in the Cyber Law regime for its efficient handling made the conviction possible within 7 months from the date of filing the FIR.

Facts: The accused was a family friend of the victim and wanted to marry her but she married another man which resulted in a Divorce. After her divorce, the accused persuaded her again and on her reluctance to marrying him, he took the course of harassment through the Internet. The accused opened a false e-mail account in the name of the victim and posted defamatory, obscene, and annoying information about the victim.

A charge-sheet was filed against the accused person under Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Decision: The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore convicted the accused person under Section 469 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the IT Act. The accused was subjected to the Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 469 of the IPC, Simple Imprisonment of 1 year along with a fine of Rs. 500 under Section 509 of the IPC, and Rigorous Imprisonment of 2 years along with a fine of Rs. 4,000 under Section 67 of the IT Act.

CBI v. Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case)

A website called www.sony-sambandh.com enabled NRIs to send Sony products to their Indian friends and relatives after online payment for the same.

In May 2002, someone logged into the website under the name of Barbara Campa and ordered a Sony Colour TV set along with a cordless telephone for one Arif Azim in Noida. She paid through her credit card and the said order was delivered to Arif Azim. However, the credit card agency informed the company that it was an unauthorized payment as the real owner denied any such purchase.

A complaint was therefore lodged with CBI and further, a case under Sections 418, 419, and 420 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was registered. The investigations concluded that Arif Azim while working at a call center in Noida, got access to the credit card details of Barbara Campa which he misused.

The Court convicted Arif Azim but being a young boy and a first-time convict, the Court’s approach was lenient towards him. The Court released the convicted person on probation for 1 year. This was one among the landmark cases of Cyber Law because it displayed that the Indian Penal Code, 1860 can be an effective legislation to rely on when the IT Act is not exhaustive.

Pune Citibank Mphasis Call Center Fraud

Facts: In 2005, US $ 3,50,000 were dishonestly transferred from the Citibank accounts of four US customers through the internet to few bogus accounts. The employees gained the confidence of the customer and obtained their PINs under the impression that they would be a helping hand to those customers to deal with difficult situations. They were not decoding encrypted software or breathing through firewalls, instead, they identified loopholes in the MphasiS system.

Decision: The Court observed that the accused in this case are the ex-employees of the MphasiS call center. The employees there are checked whenever they enter or exit. Therefore, it is clear that the employees must have memorized the numbers. The service that was used to transfer the funds was SWIFT i.e. society for worldwide interbank financial telecommunication. The crime was committed using unauthorized access to the electronic accounts of the customers. Therefore this case falls within the domain of ‘cyber crimes”. The IT Act is broad enough to accommodate these aspects of crimes and any offense under the IPC with the use of electronic documents can be put at the same level as the crimes with written documents.

The court held that section 43(a) of the IT Act, 2000 is applicable because of the presence of the nature of unauthorized access that is involved to commit transactions. The accused were also charged under section 66 of the IT Act, 2000 and section 420 i.e. cheating, 465,467 and 471 of The Indian Penal Code, 1860.

SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra [9]

Facts: In this case, Defendant Jogesh Kwatra was an employee of the plaintiff’s company. He started sending derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, abusive, and filthy emails to his employers and to different subsidiaries of the said company all over the world to defame the company and its Managing Director Mr. R K Malhotra. In the investigations, it was found that the email originated from a Cyber Cafe in New Delhi. The Cybercafé attendant identified the defendant during the enquiry. On 11 May 2011, Defendant was terminated of the services by the plaintiff.

Decision: The plaintiffs are not entitled to relief of perpetual injunction as prayed because the court did not qualify as certified evidence under section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act. Due to the absence of direct evidence that it was the defendant who was sending these emails, the court was not in a position to accept even the strongest evidence. The court also restrained the defendant from publishing, transmitting any information in the Cyberspace which is derogatory or abusive of the plaintiffs.

The Cyber Law regime is governed by the IT Act and the Rules made thereunder. Also, one may take recourse to the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 when the IT Act is unable to provide for any specific type of offence or if it does not contain exhaustive provisions with respect to an offence.

However, the Cyber Law regime is still not competent enough to deal with all sorts of Cyber Crimes that exist at this moment. With the country moving towards the ‘Digital India’ movement, the Cyber Crimes are evolving constantly and new kinds of Cyber Crimes enter the Cyber Law regime each day. The Cyber Law regime in India is weaker than what exists in other nations.

Hence, the Cyber Law regime in India needs extensive reforms to deal with the huge spike of Cyber Crimes each year.

[1] “Crime in India – 2019” Snapshots (States/UTs), NCRB, available at: https://ncrb.gov.in/sites/default/files/CII%202019%20SNAPSHOTS%20STATES.pdf (Last visited on 25 th Feb; 2021)

[2] (2013) 12 SCC 73

[3] 2015 SCC OnLine SC 1242

[4] 2005 CriLJ 4314

[5] Crl. O.P. No. 6628 of 2010

[6] (2018) 253 DLT 728

[7] (2008) 150 DLT 769

[8] CC No. 4680 of 2004

[9] CM APPL. No. 33474 of 2016

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Information Technology Act, 2000

Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000)

Important enactments of the Indian Parliament are crucial topics coming under the polity and governance segments of the UPSC syllabus . The Information Technology Act, 2000 (also known as the IT Act 2000 in short) is an important legislation that is frequently referred to in the daily news. In this article, you can read the salient features of the act and also about the controversial Section 66A of the IT Act 2000.

Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000):- Download PDF Here

IT Act, 2000

The Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted by the Indian Parliament in 2000. It is the primary law in India for matters related to cybercrime and e-commerce.

The act was enacted to give legal sanction to electronic commerce and electronic transactions, to enable e-governance, and also to prevent cybercrime .
Under this law, for any crime involving a computer or a network located in India, foreign nationals can also be charged.
The law prescribes penalties for various cybercrimes and fraud through digital/electronic format.
It also gives legal recognition to digital signatures.
The IT Act also amended certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) , the Banker’s Book Evidence Act, 1891, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 and the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 to modify these laws to make them compliant with new digital technologies.
In the wake of the recent Indo-China border clash, the Government of India banned various Chinese apps under the Information Technology Act. Read more about this in an RSTV titled, ‘TikTok, Other Chinese Apps Banned’ .

Given below are the links of relevant topics that will help aspirants prepare for their UPSC examination-

IT Act – 2008 Amendments

The IT Act 2000 was amended in 2008. This amendment introduced the controversial Section 66A into the Act.

Section 66A

Section 66A gave authorities the power to arrest anyone accused of posting content on social media that could be deemed ‘offensive’.
This amendment was passed in the Parliament without any debate.
As per the said section, a person could be convicted if proven on the charges of sending any ‘information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character’.
It also made it an offence to send any information that the sender knows to be false, but for the purpose of annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill-will, through a computer or electronic device.
The penalty prescribed for the above was up to three years’ imprisonment with a fine.

Arguments against Section 66A

Experts stated that the terms ‘offensive’, ‘menacing’, ‘annoyance’, etc. were vague and ill-defined or not defined at all.
Anything could be construed as offensive by anybody.
There was a lot of scope for abuse of power using this provision to intimidate people working in the media.
This also curbed the freedom of speech and expression enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution.
The section was used most notably to arrest persons who made any uncharitable remarks or criticisms against politicians.

The government contended that the section did not violate any fundamental right and that only certain words were restricted. It stated that as the number of internet users mushroomed in the country, there was a need to regulate the content on the internet just like print and electronic media. The Supreme Court, however, in 2015, struck down this section of the IT Act saying it was unconstitutional as it violated Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. This was in the famous Shreya Singhal v Union of India case (2015) .

Section 69A

Section 69A empowers the authorities to intercept, monitor or decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource if it is necessary or expedient to do so in the interest of the sovereignty or integrity of India, defense of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign states or public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognizable offence or for investigation of any offence.
It also empowers the government to block internet sites in the interests of the nation. The law also contained procedural safeguards for blocking any site.
When parties opposed to the section stated that this section violated the right to privacy, the Supreme Court contended that national security is above individual privacy. The apex court upheld the constitutional validity of the section. Also read about privacy laws and India .
The recent banning of certain Chinese Apps was done citing provisions under Section 69A of the IT Act.
Note:- The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 allows the government to tap phones. However, a 1996 SC judgement allows tapping of phones only during a ‘public emergency’. Section 69A does not impose any public emergency restriction for the government.

Read all the important acts and laws for UPSC & other govt. exams in the linked article.

Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018

The Rules have been framed under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act. This section covers intermediary liability.

Section 79(2)(c) of the Act states that intermediaries must observe due diligence while discharging their duties, and also observe such other guidelines as prescribed by the Central Government.
An intermediary is a service that facilitates people to use the Internet, such as Internet Services Providers (ISPs), search engines and social media platforms.
Conduits: Technical providers of internet access or transmission services.
Hosts: Providers of content services (online platforms, storage services).
Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules were first released in 2011 and in 2018, the government made certain changes to those rules.
In 2018, there was a rise in the number of mob lynchings spurred by fake news & rumours and messages circulated on social media platforms like WhatsApp.
To curb this, the government proposed stringent changes to Section 79 of the IT Act.

What do the Rules say?

According to the 2018 Rules, social media intermediaries should publish rules and privacy policies to curb users from engaging in online material which is paedophilic, pornographic, hateful, racially and ethnically objectionable, invasive of privacy, etc.
The 2018 Rules further provide that whenever an order is issued by government agencies seeking information or assistance concerning cybersecurity , then the intermediaries must provide them the same within 72 hours.
The Rules make it obligatory for online intermediaries to appoint a ‘Nodal person of Contact’ for 24X7 coordination with law enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance.
The intermediaries are also required to deploy such technologies based on automated tools and appropriate mechanisms for the purpose of identifying or removing or disabling access to unlawful information.
The changes will also require online platforms to break end-to-end encryption in order to ascertain the origin of messages.
Online Intermediaries are required to remove or disable access to unlawful content within 24 hours. They should also preserve such records for a minimum period of 180 days for the purpose of investigations.

Rationale behind the Rules

The government intends to make legal frameworks in order to make social media accountable under the law and protect people and intermediaries from misusing the same.
The government wants to curb the spread of fake news and rumours, and also pre-empt mob violence/lynching.
There is a need to check the presentation of incorrect facts as news by social media, that instigates people to commit crimes.

There has been criticism of the Rules from certain quarters, that says that the State is intruding into the privacy of the individual. Some also say that this law widens the scope of state surveillance of its citizens. These criticisms are notwithstanding the fact that the new Rules are in line with recent SC rulings.

Tehseen S. Poonawalla case (2018): SC said that authorities have full freedom to curb the dissemination of explosive and irresponsible messages on social media, that could incite mob violence and lynchings.
Prajwala Letter case (2018): SC ordered the government to frame the necessary guidelines to “eliminate child pornography, rape and gang rape imagery, videos, and sites in content hosting platforms and other applications”.

Frequently Asked Questions Related to Information Technology Act 2000

What is the main provision of it act 2000, what are the features of it act 2000.

Features of the Information Technology Act, 2000

All electronic contracts created through secure electronic channels were legally valid.
Legal recognition for digital signatures.
Security measures for electronic records and conjointly digital signatures are in place.

How many sections are in the IT Act 2000?

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Electronic mail security, ip security, web security, malicious software, information technology act, 2000 (india).

The Information Technology Act, 2000 also Known as an IT Act is an act proposed by the Indian Parliament reported on 17th October 2000. This Information Technology Act is based on the United Nations Model law on Electronic Commerce 1996 (UNCITRAL Model) which was suggested by the General Assembly of United Nations by a resolution dated on 30th January, 1997. It is the most important law in India dealing with Cybercrime and E-Commerce.

The main objective of this act is to carry lawful and trustworthy electronic, digital and online transactions and alleviate or reduce cybercrimes. The IT Act has 13 chapters and 94 sections. The last four sections that starts from ‘section 91 – section 94’, deals with the revisions to the Indian Penal Code 1860.

The IT Act, 2000 has two schedules:

First Schedule – Deals with documents to which the Act shall not apply.
Second Schedule – Deals with electronic signature or electronic authentication method.

The offences and the punishments in IT Act 2000 : The offences and the punishments that falls under the IT Act, 2000 are as follows :-

Tampering with the computer source documents.
Directions of Controller to a subscriber to extend facilities to decrypt information.
Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form.
Penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy.
Hacking for malicious purposes.
Penalty for publishing Digital Signature Certificate false in certain particulars.
Penalty for misrepresentation.
Confiscation.
Power to investigate offences.
Protected System.
Penalties for confiscation not to interfere with other punishments.
Act to apply for offence or contravention committed outside India.
Publication for fraud purposes.
Power of Controller to give directions.

Sections and Punishments under Information Technology Act, 2000 are as follows :

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Strengthening Cyber Security and Data Protection in India: An Analysis of Legal Frameworks and Case Studies

The article aims to analyze the legal framework for cybersecurity and data protection in india and examines the effectiveness of the existing laws in addressing cyber threats..

The article 'Strengthening Cyber Security and Data Protection in India: An Analysis of Legal Frameworks and Case Studies' aims to analyze the legal framework for cybersecurity and data protection in India and examines the effectiveness of the existing laws in addressing cyber threats.

Cybersecurity and Data Protection have become critical issues in India due to the increasing dependence on technology and the internet. Additionally, the article presents case studies of cyberattacks in India to demonstrate the vulnerability of the country's cyberspace. The findings suggest that while India has made significant progress in establishing a legal framework for cybersecurity and data protection, there are gaps that need to be addressed to strengthen the country's cybersecurity posture.

Introduction

Cybercrime and Data Privacy are crucial topics in our Indian legal system, especially in the digital age. Cybercrime refers to any criminal activity that involves the use of a computer or network. Data Privacy, on the other hand, protects sensitive and confidential information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Both cybercrime and data privacy are intertwined, as cybercriminals often use personal information for fraudulent activities.

Overview of Cybercrime in India

Cybercrime in India is a significant concern, and it has been on the rise in recent years. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), cybercrime cases in India increased by 63.5% in 2019, with over 44,000 reported incidents. The most common types of cybercrimes in India include phishing, online banking fraud, identity theft, and cyberstalking. These crimes not only cause financial losses but also damage the reputation of individuals and organizations.

The Indian legal system has various laws to address cybercrime. The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, is the primary law that deals with cybercrime in India. It defines cybercrime and provides punishments for offences such as hacking, phishing, and data theft. The Act also includes provisions for the protection of personal information and data privacy. Other laws such as the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, and the Evidence Act, 1872, are also used to prosecute cybercriminals.

Despite the existence of laws, cybercrime remains a significant challenge in India. One of the main reasons is the lack of awareness and preparedness among individuals and organizations. Cybercriminals often exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks to carry out their activities. Therefore, it is essential for individuals and organizations to take appropriate measures to protect themselves from cyber threats.

Overview of Data Privacy in India

Data Privacy is an essential aspect of the digital age, and it is crucial to protect sensitive and confidential information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. In India, data privacy is protected under various laws and regulations. The IT Act, 2000, includes provisions for the protection of personal information, and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011 , provide guidelines for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information.

In addition, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union (EU) has a significant impact on data privacy in India. The GDPR applies to any organization that processes the personal data of individuals in the EU, regardless of its location. Therefore, Indian companies that process the personal data of individuals in the EU must comply with the GDPR.

Legal Provisions for Cyber Crimes

Indian legal system has several provisions in place to tackle cyber crimes. The Information Technology (IT) Act , 2000 is the primary legislation governing cyber crimes in India. The Act defines cyber crimes and provides for penalties and punishments for offences such as hacking, data theft, and cyber terrorism. The Act also provides for the establishment of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal and the Cyber Regulations Advisory Committee to deal with cyber crimes and related issues.

Apart from the IT Act, several other laws also have provisions for cyber crimes. For example, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has sections that deal with offences such as identity theft, cyberstalking, and online defamation. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also issued guidelines for banks and financial institutions to prevent cyber fraud.

However, despite the legal provisions in place, the conviction rate for cyber crimes in India remains low. This is mainly due to the lack of technical expertise among law enforcement agencies and the absence of proper infrastructure to investigate and prosecute cyber crimes.

Legal Framework for Cybersecurity and Data Protection in India

The Indian government has implemented various laws and regulations to address cybersecurity and data protection. The most notable among them is the Information Technology (IT) Act, of 2000 , which was amended in 2008 to include provisions for cybersecurity and data protection. The IT Act, of 2000, provides for the establishment of a Cyber Appellate Tribunal and specifies penalties for cybercrimes such as hacking, data theft, and cyber terrorism. Additionally, the government has established the National Cyber Security Policy, 2013 , which aims to create a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens, businesses, and the government

Case Studies

Several cases have come up in India that highlights the need for a robust legal framework to deal with cybercrime and data privacy. One such case is the WhatsApp-Facebook data-sharing (2016) case , where the Indian government raised concerns about WhatsApp’s data-sharing practices with its parent company Facebook. The Delhi High Court ruled that WhatsApp’s policy of sharing user data with Facebook was a violation of individuals’ privacy and ordered the company to delete all data collected before September 2016.

Another significant case is the Aadhaar data breach (2019) case , where the Indian government’s national biometric identity program, Aadhaar, suffered a data breach that exposed the personal information of over a billion Indians. The Supreme Court of India ruled that the government must take measures to protect citizens’ data and ensure that sensitive personal information is not misused.

Despite the existence of a legal framework for cyber security and data protection in India, there have been numerous cases of cybercrime and data breaches in the country. Some of the high-profile cases include:

The 2016 data breach at an Indian e-commerce company, Zomato , resulted in the theft of 17 million user records, including email addresses and hashed passwords.

The 2020 data breach at the Indian online learning platform, Unacademy , resulted in the theft of 22 million user records, including email addresses, passwords, and account information.

In all these cases, the companies involved faced severe criticism for their inadequate data protection measures, which made them vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Challenges and Solutions

Cybercrime and Data Privacy pose significant challenges in the Indian legal system. One of the main challenges is the lack of awareness and preparedness among individuals and organizations. Many people are not aware of the risks of cybercrime and the importance of data privacy. Therefore, they do not take appropriate measures to protect themselves from cyber threats.

Another challenge is the lack of resources and expertise among law enforcement agencies. Cybercrime investigations require specialized knowledge and skills, which are often lacking in law enforcement agencies. Therefore, cybercriminals often go unpunished due to the lack of expertise and resources to investigate and prosecute them.

To address these challenges, the Indian government has taken various initiatives. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched various awareness campaigns to educate people about cyber threats and the importance of data privacy. The government has also set up specialized agencies such as the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) and the National Cyber Security .

There are several academic journals and articles that discuss cybercrime and data privacy in the Indian legal system. One such journal is the International Journal of Cyber Criminology, which focuses on research related to cybercrime and its impact on society. Another journal is the Journal of Indian Law and Society, which covers a range of legal issues, including those related to data privacy and cybersecurity.

One notable article is “India’s Cybersecurity Framework: A Critical Analysis,” published in the Journal of Information, Law and Technology. The article examines the various laws and regulations related to cybersecurity in India and evaluates their effectiveness in addressing cyber threats and protecting individuals’ privacy.

Cybercrime and Data Privacy have become major concerns in the Indian legal system as the country continues to move towards a more digital future. While the government has taken steps to address these issues through various laws and regulations, more needs to be done to ensure that individual privacy is protected and cybercrimes are effectively punished. As the country’s digital landscape continues to evolve, it is essential that the legal system keeps pace with these changes and adapts to meet the new challenges that arise. Indian legal system must also take note of the global developments in this area and learn from them to improve its own approach to cybercrime and data privacy.

[1] Information Technology Act, 2000

[2] Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019

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Info. Technology Law

A. Section 2: Definitions – Computer, Computer Network, etc

1. K. Ramajayam V. The Inspector Of Police [The DVR is an electronic record withinn the meaning of Section 2(t) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as it stores data in electronic form and is also capable of output]

2. Syed Asifuddin And Ors. vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh [2005 CriLJ 4314]

Summary: Reliance model handsets were to be exclusively used by Reliance India Mobile Limited but the TATA Indicom staff members who were figured as an accused tampered with pre-programmed CDMA digital handsets belonging to Reliance Infocomm and activated with TATA Indicom network with all dubious means. Offence was held to be made out under Section 65 of IT Act.

3. Diebold Systems Pvt. Ltd. vs The Commissioner Of Commercial Tax [2006 144 STC 59 Kar]

B. Section 43: Penalty and Compensation for damage to computer, computer system, etc

1. Poona Auto Anillaries Pvt. Ltd., Pune Versus Punjab National Bank, HO New Delhi & Others Summary: In 2013, in one of the largest compensation awarded in legal adjudication of a cyber crime dispute, Maharashtra’s IT secretary Rajesh Aggarwal had ordered PNB to pay Rs 45 lakh to the Complainant Manmohan Singh Matharu, MD of Pune-based firm Poona Auto Ancillaries. A fraudster had transferred Rs 80.10 lakh from Matharu’s account in PNB, Pune after Matharu responded to a phishing email. Complainant was asked to share the liability since he responded to the phishing mail but the Bank was found negligent due to lack of proper security checks against fraud accounts opened to defraud the Complainant.

C. Section 65: Tampering with Computer Source Document

1. Syed Asifuddin And Ors. vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh [2005 CriLJ 4314]

2. Bhim Sen Garg vs State Of Rajasthan and Others. on 13 June, 2006 [2006 CriLJ 3643]

E. Section 66: Computer Related Offences

1. A. Shankar vs State Rep. [2010] The petitioner had secured access unauthorisedly to the protected system of the Legal Advisor.

E. Section 66A: Punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc.

1. Supreme Court Judgment (in PDF) as to scrapping of Section 66A in the matter of Shreya Singhal V Union of India (2015)

Summary: Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 is struck down in its entirety being violative of Article 19(1)(a) and not saved under Article 19(2). )Section 69A and the Information Technology (Procedure & Safeguards for Blocking for Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 are constitutionally valid. Further, Section 79 is valid subject to Section 79(3)(b) being read down and so on.

F. Section 67: Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form

1. Avnish Bajaj vs State, famously known as Bazee.com case (2005) Summary : CEO of E-Commerce Portal was arrested and given bail later under Section 67 of IT Act on account of an obscene video uploaded on Bazee.com for sale. He proved Due Diligence but in 2005, Information Technology Act did not have any provisions related to ‘Intermediary’ !

2. Sharat Babu Digumarti vs State, Govt. of NCT of Delhi (Bazee.com Case, Appeal) Summary: Petitioner was working as Senior Manager, Trust and Safety, BIPL on the day when DPS MMS was put up for sale on Bazee.com. That is, the office responsible for the safety of the Portal, taking action on suspect lists when reported by our users, and block the user or close items listed accordingly. It was held that there is prima-facie sufficient material showing petitioner‟s involvement to proceed against him for the commission of offence punishable under Section 292 IPC. Though he was alrady discharged of offences only under Section 67 read with Section 85 of IT Act and Section 294 IPC.

3. Dr. L. Prakash vs State Of Tamil Nadu (2002) Summary: Petitioner was arrested by the Inspector of Police, R8 Vadapalani Police Station, Chennai for various offences, particularly Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, Section 4 read with Section 6 of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986 and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

4. Mohammed vs State on (2010) Summary: Section 67 of Information Technology Act analyzed and held it is not applicable to the case of threatening email received by Chief Minster of Gujarat, hence ordered to be deleted from the matter.

5. Sreekanth C.Nair vs Licensee/Developer (2008) [Blocking of Website] Summary: A student of ASCL, came across the website “www.incometaxpune.com”, and on visiting the said site, the complainant was taken to a pornographic site and move the court for blocking order against the website. The court ordered that only when the authorities enumerated under Clauses (i) to (vii) when moved were either not inclined or had refused to prefer a complaint to the Director, CERT-In, then the court could be moved for a direction to the officer concerned.

F. Section 70: Protected system

2. Firos vs State Of Kerala (2006)

G. Section 79: Exemption of Liability of Intermediary in certain cases and Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011

1. CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN SAS Versus NAKUL BAJAJ & ORS (Intermediary Liability as an E-commerce Operator – November 2018)

Great analysis of section 79 of IT Act, 2000 and the Intermediary Guidelines done by honorable Judge Ms Pratibha M Singh. Importantly, it lays down the circumstances, in which the Intermediary will be assumed to be abetting the sale of online products/services and therefore, cannot go scott free. In the said matter, the Complainant, a manufacturer of Luxury Shoes filed for injunction against an e-commerce portal www.darveys.com for indulging in Trademark violation, along with the seller of spurious goods.

2. KENT RO SYSTEMS LTD & ANR Versus AMIT KOTAK & ORS (EBAY – January 2017)

Kent RO had lodged Complaint with eBay as to IPR violation of its rights by a seller on later’s platform and wanted Ebay to verify the products before it is uploaded on it’s platform. Court said the IT Intermediary Rules only require the intermediary to publish the Rules and Regulations and Privacy Policy and to inform the users of its computer resources not to host, display, uphold or publish any information that infringes any Intellectual Proprietary Rights. Further, the IT Rules require the eBay as an intermediary to, upon any person as the plaintiffs approaching it in writing, of products infringing that person’s patent, trademark or copyright rights to within 36 hours disable the infringing information. Court held that hosting of information on such portals is automatic and it is not expected of the eBay to screen each and every information except when the same is brought to it’s knowledge. Therefore, to require an intermediary to do such screening would be an unreasonable interference with the rights of the intermediary to carry on its business.

3. Google India Pvt Ltd VS. Visaka Industries Limited (2009) [Google liable as Intermediary (if proved guilty) as criminal complaint instituted before the Information technology (Amendment) Act 2008 came into force]

4. Gaussian Network Pvt. Ltd V Monica Lakhanpal & Another (2012) [Whether there is any restriction on playing the Games of Rummy, Chess, Golf, Poker, Bridge, and Snooker of skill with stakes on the websites making profit and whether wagering and betting on games of skill make the activity “Gambling”, as covered under Rule 3 of Intermediary Guidelines ?]

5. Vyakti Vikas Kendra & other vs Jitender Bagga & Google (2012) [Art Of Living Foundation filed for interim relief against a blogger and the intermediary Google owned Blogger.com for cyber defamation. The latter was ordered to remove all the defamatory content within 36 hours]

H. Section 65B of Indian Evidence Act, 1872: Admissibility Of Electronic Records

1. Anvar P.V vs P.K. Basheer & Others [An electronic record by way of secondary evidence shall not be admitted in evidence unless the requirements under Section 65B are satisfied]

2. SC: Harpal Singh V. State of Punjab (2016) – Electronic Evidence [November 2016] [Apparently the prosecution has relied upon the secondary evidence in the form of printed copy of the call details, even assuming that the mandate of Section 65B(2) had been complied with, in absence of a certificate under Section 65B(4), the same has to be held inadmissible in evidence]

3. K. Ramajayam V. The Inspector Of Police [If an electronic record as such is used as primary evidence under Section 62 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 the same is admissible in evidence, without compliance with the conditions in Section 65B of the Evidence Act. In this case, DVR which contains the information is before the Court]

I. Effects Test – Jurisdiction

1. Banyan Tree Holding (P) Limited vs A. Murali Krishna Reddy & Anr (2009) [While courts have more readily applied the “effects” test in defamation cases, there have been problems in its application to trademark infringement cases]

2. United States Supreme Court in the matter of CALDER v. JONES, (1984) [The United States District Court for the Western District of Texas applied the “effects test” set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Calder v. Jones, 465 U.S. 783 (1984), to deny a defendant’s motion to dismiss an Internet defamation case for lack of personal jurisdiction]

J. Blocking of Website

1. Sreekanth C.Nair vs Licensee/Developer (2008) [Blocking of Website]

K. Domain Names – Domain & Trademark issues

1. Infosys Technologies Limited vs Akhil Gupta (2005)

2. Yahoo! Inc. vs Akash Arora (1999)

3. Satyam Infoway Ltd vs Siffynet Solutions Pvt. Ltd (2004)

L. .COM Domain Name Disputes

1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated v. Ramzan Arif, Vertex Medical (pvt) Ltd. [WIPO Case No. D2020-2334] (Domain: VertexMedical.com)

M. Software Piracy

1. Adobe Systems Inc. vs Sachin Naik (Delhi High Court – 2013)

Information Technology Rules

In exercise of the powers conferred by respective sections of Information Technology Act 2000, the Central ...

Further Section

Information Technology Act, 2000

1. Cyber Crime in India 2. Check Domain Name WHOIS Info 3. Section 63B of Copyright Act, ...

Cyber Crime in India

AI Summary to Minimize your effort

IT Act 2000: Objectives, Features, Amendments, Sections, Offences and Penalties

Updated on : Apr 17th, 2024

21 min read

Over the past decade, the rise of technology and electronic commerce has led to a surge in cybercrimes and data-related offences in India. As per the latest news by a renowned paper house, the cybercrime cases increased from 3,693 in 2012 to 65,893 in 2022, recording the highest spike rate. The situation became alarming as even data crucial to national security and integrity was at risk. In response, the government opted to regulate activities on electronic mediums and the data stored therein.

Thus, the Information Technology Act or IT Act 2000 was introduced. In this article, we will provide a comprehensive overview of this Act, highlighting all the associated factors that you need to know.

What Is the Information Technology Act 2000?

A legal framework proposed by the Indian Parliament, the Informational Technology Act of 2000 , is the primary legislation in India dealing with cybercrime and electronic commerce . It was formulated to ensure the lawful conduct of digital transactions and the reduction of cyber crimes, on the basis of the United Nations Model Law on Electronic Commerce 1996 (UNCITRAL Model). This legal framework, also known as IT Act 2000 , comes with 94 sections, divided into 13 chapters and 2 schedules.

When IT Act 2000 Came Into Effect?

The bill of this law was passed in the Budget by a group of Parliament members, headed by the then Minister of Information Technology and signed by the President on 9 May 2000. It finally came into effect on October 17, imposing restrictions on all individuals regardless of their nationality and geographic location.

Importance of IT Act 2000

Read the pointers highlighted below to understand the importance of formulating Information Technology Act 2000:

The Act provides legal recognition to electronic records, resulting in the growth of e-commerce and digital transactions in India.
It has established electronic signatures as the legal equivalent of physical signatures.
The formulation of this act has come up with the establishment of the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA), a government body that is responsible for issuing and maintaining the security of digital signatures as well as certificates.
The Act has made it mandatory for companies to obtain consent from consumers when it comes to collecting or using their personal information.
With the Act becoming effective, individuals have the right to seek compensation in case of damage or misuse of their personal data by an unauthorised party.
Through the Act, the Government of India can criminalise cybercrime, hacking and spreading of computer viruses.
The Information Technology Act 2000 also authorised the establishment of the Cyber Appellate Tribunal, a specialised official body hired to address the appeals against orders passed by Adjudicating Officers under the Act.
It contains provisions that safeguard the critical information infrastructure, including communication networks and power grids.

Objectives of the Information Technology Act 2000

The following are the main objectives of the Information Technology Act of 2000 that you should know:

Promote efficient delivery of government services electronically or facilitate digital transactions between firms and regular individuals
Impose penalties upon cybercrimes like data theft, identity theft, cyberstalking and so on, in order to create a secure cyber landscape
Formulate rules and regulations that monitor the cyber activity and electronic mediums of communication and commerce
Promote the expansion and foster innovation and entrepreneurship in the Indian IT/ITES sector

Features of the Information Technology Act 2000

Take a look at the salient features of the Information Technology Act 2000:

The provisions of this Act are implemented by the Central Government to regulate electronic commerce and penalise cybercrime.
The Act states the roles and responsibilities of intermediaries as well as conditions under which their liability can be exempted.
The Information Technology Act is associated with CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), a nodal agency that is responsible for cybersecurity and cyber incident response.
There have been 2 amendments associated with this Act, addressing the technological advancements, implementability concerns and anomalies.

IT Act 2000 and Its Amendments

As technology evolved over time, the Indian Parliament recognized the need to revise the Act in order to align it with societal needs, resulting in its amendment. Two significant amendments were made to the IT Act 2000 that you should know about.

1. Amendment of 2008

The 2008 amendment came up with modifications to Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000. The section outlined penalties for sharing offensive messages electronically. This includes any message or information that incited hatred or compromised the integrity and security of the nation. However, the lack of clarity in defining 'offensive' messages led to unnecessary punishment of several individuals, ultimately resulting in the striking down of the section.

2. Amendment Bill 2015

In 2015, another bill was initiated to amend Section 66A with the aim of safeguarding the fundamental rights guaranteed to citizens by the country's Constitution. This was later accomplished by declaring it as violative of Article 19 of the Constitution.

Digital Signature Under IT Act 2000

The Information Technology Act 2000 includes provisions that legally introduce the use of digital signatures for submitting crucial documents online, ensuring their security and authenticity. The Act further mandates all companies/LLPs under the MCA21 e-Governance programme to utilise digital signatures for document filing.

Electronic Governance Under IT Act 2000

Electronic Governance or E-Governance involves the application of legal rules and regulations for managing, controlling, and administering government processes that are conducted through electronic means. Keep reading to find out how electronic governance is dealt with under the Information Technology Act 2000:

Section 4: This Section grants legal recognition to electronic records, making it an equivalent of paper-based documents.
Section 5: In Section 5 of the Indian IT Act, 2000, digital signatures get equal legal recognition as handwritten signatures. However, the authentication of these digital signatures is determined by the Central Government.
Section 6: Eliminating red tapism, Section 6 promotes use of the electronic records and digital signatures by all agencies of the Indian Government. This involves online filing of documents, issuance of licences/approvals electronically and digital receipt/payment of money.
Section 7: This Section authorises the retention of electronic records for fulfilment of legally retaining records.

IT Act 2000 Sections

The Information Technology Act 2000 has 94 sections focusing on the regulation of electronic exchanges. These sections collectively establish a comprehensive framework for electronic governance, digital signatures, and the legal recognition of electronic records. All these sections play a crucial role in facilitating the use of digital technologies in governance.

Section 43 of IT Act 2000

Section 43 of Chapter IX of the IT Act, 2000 outlines various actions for which a penalty is imposed if done without permission from the person in charge of the computer system. These actions are discussed below.

Access information from the system
Download or copy data with proper authorisation
Introduce virus or other malicious software into the system
Cause damage to a computer network or database
Prevent an authorised user from accessing the system
Assist others in breaching the provisions of the law
Charge someone for services they have not utilised
Alter or remove information to reduce its value or cause harm
Steal or mess with the code that makes a computer program work

Section 66 of IT Act 2000

If an individual engages in any action outlined in Section 43 with dishonest or fraudulent intent, he/she shall be subject to punishment. As per Section 66 of the IT Act 2000 , this punishment may include imprisonment for a period of up to 3 years, a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh, or both.

Section 66A of IT Act 2000

The Information Technology Act of 2000 was amended to introduce a new section, Section 66A in order to address instances of cybercrime arising from the emergence of technology and the internet. This section imposes penalties for sending offensive messages through communication services.

As per this section, a person will face punishment in the following scenarios:

Sending information that is highly offensive or has a menacing character
Using a computer resource or communication device to send false information with the intent of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill will
Sending any electronic mail or message with the intention of causing annoyance, inconvenience, deception, or misleading the recipient

Section 66B of IT Act 2000

Section 66B outlines the punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer resources or communication devices. As per this section, anyone who knowingly receives or retains any stolen computer resource or communication device shall be liable to imprisonment for up to 3 years, or a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh, or both.

Section 67A of the IT Act 2000

Section 67A deals with the punishment for publishing or sharing material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic form. On 1st conviction, individuals who publish such material shall face imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh. In the event of a 2nd or subsequent conviction, the punishment may extend to imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh.

Offences and Penalties Under IT Act 2000

There are provisions in the Information Technology Act 2000 that outline different offences and penalties related to the misuse of technology and electronic communication. Let us take a look:

Cyber Crime Under IT Act 2000

When it comes to cybersecurity , there are 5 main types of laws followed in India . These include the Information Technology Act 2000 (IT Act), the Indian Penal Code of 1860 (IPC), the Information Technology Rules (IT Rules), the Companies Act of 2013, and the Cybersecurity Framework (NCFS).

The cyber law established under the IT Act of 2000 stands as the first cyber law approved by the Indian Parliament. It highlights penalties and sanctions enacted by the Parliament of India that safeguard the sectors of e-governance, e-banking and e-commerce.

Advantages and Disadvantages of IT Act 2000

While the IT Act of 2000 offers numerous benefits, it also carries certain disadvantages. Let us begin by exploring its advantages.

Before the Act was enacted, emails, messages and such other means of communication were not legally recognised and thus not admissible as evidence in court. However, with the introduction of the IT Act of 2000, electronic communications gained legal recognition.
By leveraging the legal infrastructure provided by this Act, companies can engage in e-commerce or e-business.
With the legalisation of digital signatures, it has become easier to carry out transactions online or verify the identity of an individual on the internet.
Corporations get statutory remedies in the event of unauthorised access or hacking into their computer systems or networks.
Individuals get monetary assistance or compensation as a remedy for damages of any kind incurred in computer systems.
The Act identifies and penalises various cybercrimes such as hacking, spamming, identity theft, phishing, and so on, which were previously not addressed in any legislation.
The Act permits companies to serve as certifying authorities and issue digital certificates.
It empowers the Indian Government to issue notices on the internet through e-governance.

Let us now walk through a list of disadvantages that came forth after the enactment of the Information Technology Act 2000:

The Information Technology Act of 2000 fails to address the issues involving domain names, and the rights, and liabilities of domain owners.
Despite the prevalence of copyright and patent issues in India, the Act still does not protect Intellectual Property Rights when it comes to computer programs and networks.
Various kinds of cybercrimes such as cyberstalking, cyber fraud, chat room abuse, theft of internet hours, and many more are not covered by this Act.
The IT Act has also failed to address critical issues such as privacy and content regulation.

With the rapid escalation of cybercrime cases in India, there emerged an urgent need for a mechanism to detect and control them. The IT Act 2000 is a step towards safeguarding the data and sensitive information stored with online intermediaries. In addition, this Act comes with various provisions that benefit citizens and protect their data from misuse.

Frequently Asked Questions

As of March 2024, the IT Act contains 2 schedules. Initially, the Act included 4 schedules, with 2 of them being omitted over time.

The Information Technology Act 2000 is a legal framework focusing on the legal recognition of digital certificates and the regulation of certification authorities as its components.

The primary feature of the IT Act of 2000 is to facilitate lawful electronic, digital, and online transactions while mitigating cybercrimes.

There are 94 sections in the Information Technology Act of 2000.

A digital signature is the authentication of any electronic record by a subscriber through an electronic method or procedure. It serves as the digital equivalent of a traditional handwritten signature or stamped seal.

The Information Technology Act 2000 has a primary objective to regulate and control the prevalent cybercrime cases in India.

Section 67A of the Information Technology Act states the punishment for publishing or sharing material that contains sexually explicit acts through electronic means.

About the Author

Mayashree Acharya

I am an advocate by profession and have a keen interest in writing. I write articles in various categories, from legal, business, personal finance, and investments to government schemes. I put words in a simplified manner and write easy-to-understand articles. Read more

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Information Technology Act, 2021

What Is Information Technology Act, 2021

It is mandatory to set up a grievance redressal office for OTT (over the top) and digital portal in the country
A chief compliance officer and have a nodal contact person are to be appointed by social media firms. He/she will be in touch with law enforcement agencies 24/7.
A grievance officer has to be appointed by social media firms. He/she have to register the grievance within 24 hours and has to dispose it off within 15 days.
Social media platform have to remove the content within 24 hours If there are complaints against the dignity of users, particularly women � about their exposed private parts of individuals or nudity or sexual act or impersonation etc.
Social media platforms have to submit a monthly report the number of complaints received and the status of redressal.
There will be three levels of regulation for news publishers, self-regulation, a self-regulatory body, which will be headed by a retired judge or an eminent person, and oversight from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, including codes of practices and a grievance committee.
Social media companies which have more than 50 lakh registered users will be considered 'significant social media intermediaries'.
If they do not comply with the rules then they could face a ban. Also, they run the risk of losing their status as "intermediaries" and may become liable for criminal action if they do not comply with the revised regulations.

Reasons For It Act, 2021 To Be Frame

Information Technology Act, 2000
To protect all the transactions done through electronic means.
To recognize the digital signatures that are used for any sort of legal authentication.
To regulate the activities of intermediaries and protect citizens from cybercrime.
Defines cyber crimes
Provides legal framework for electronic governance by giving recognition to electronic records and digital signatures.
Appoints controller as certifying authority
Mandates obtaining license for electronic certificate

Government Statement On Information Technology Act, 2021

Controversies related to information technology act, 2021.

It deprives intermediaries of a fair recourse in the event that it disagrees with the Government's order due to a strict timeline.
It had also been alleged that Information Technology Act, 2021 is violative of freedom of speech and expression.
This rule also makes a mandatory requirement of traceability. This will break this immunity of the intermediaries that they were having earlier of end to end encryption, that they cannot read the message of the users. This is violative as it is invasion of privacy.
The definition of intermediaries may be too broad in this act.
It also violated the code of ethics. According to the rules, Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may pass an order for blocking the content of an online publisher in case of emergency maybe on the grounds of national security and public order and at that time these intermediaries are not given a chance of hearing.
Intermediaries Rule, 2018

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First Conviction Case under Sec 67 of the IT ACT, 2000

Suhas Katti v. Tamil Nadu, was the first case in India where a conviction was handed down in connection with the posting of obscene messages on the internet under the controversial section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The case was filed in 2004 and within a short span of about seven months from the filing of the FIR, the Chennai Cyber Crime Cell achieved the conviction .The Case of Suhas Katti is a notable case where the conviction was achieved successfully within 7 months from filing of the FIR. The efficient handling of the case which happened to be the first case of the Chennai Cyber Crime Cell going to trial deserves a special mention.

The accused originated an obscene message on 7.02.04 from Bombay at a browsing centre and went on to surf Yahoo Web Site and created an email in the name of Roselind (the victim) as “ [email protected] ”. He went into five different Sex Groups through Yahoo website (Radha lovers, Beautiful Tamil Actresses, Tamil girls showing their P***ai, Tamil **** Babes, and Tamil girls showing everything ) and became a member. He started making obscene and defamatory messages about the victim as if she is soliciting sex work and gave her office phone numbers and residence phone number and her email ID- “ [email protected] ”. On seeing such messages in the Yahoo group, several people from different places made offending calls to the victim through phones and emails. The accused also started forwarding emails received in the fake account opened by him in the victim’s name. Again on 9.02.04, the accused posted another similar obscene message about the victim. After suffering defamation due to all such acts of the accused, victim filed a complaint against the accused. The police traced the accused that was the victim’s friend to Mumbai and was interested in marrying her. She married to another person, but that marriage ended in divorce and the accused started convincing her once again and her reluctance to marry him, he started harassing her through the internet. A Charge sheet was filed under section 67 of the IT Act 2000, 469 and 509 IPC against him.

The issues before the honorable court was –

Whether the accused was liable of the charges under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Whether the accused was liable of the charges under Section 469 of IPC, 1860.
Whether the accused was liable of the charges under Section 509 of IPC, 1860.
Whether the documentary evidence under Sec 65B of the Evidence Act, 1872 was sustainable.

Arguments on behalf of the Prosecution analyzed

It is evident from the facts of the case presented before the honorable court about the relationship between the accused and the victim. Before the marriage of the victim with her ex-husband Prajapathi, the accused wanted to marry her and after the victim secured divorce, the accused expressed his desire to marry the victim but she refused his marriage proposal. In order to seek revenge of her refusal, he took the medium of Internet to abuse her by making a false ID in her name, projecting to be soliciting sex-work.

Sec.67 of the IT Act, 2000 provides the punishment for the person who transmits obscene content on an electronic form. From the evidence submitted, it is evident that the accused intentionally published obscene content in the victim’s name. The posting of such messages resulted in annoying phone calls and emails to the victim in the belief that she was soliciting sex-work. Creating a fake ID in the victim’s name and transmitting obscene content over the Yahoo groups revealing her personal details was completely an offence under the said section. The accused misused the medium of Internet and took revenge on the victim and is liable to be punished under the said section. Sec.498 of IPC talks about the Forgery for purpose harming reputation. Whoever commits forgery, [intending that the document or electronic record forged ] shall harm the reputation of any party, or knowing that it is likely to be used for that purpose, shall be punished. It is evident that the accused has chosen to post the obscene message for a reason that she refused to marry him. Unknown persons contacted her through phone and email and harmed her dignity which was very defamatory in nature resulting in harm in her reputation at her office and among her peer groups. The mental sufferings and humiliation undergone by the victim is irreversible.

Section 509 says that any person intending to insult the modesty of any woman through uttering any words, gesture, or exhibits any object intending that such gesture or words shall be seen by such woman intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, & shall be punished under this section. The accused posted such obscene messages over different sex groups through fake Yahoo ID in her name and tried to insult the modesty of the victim by portraying her as a call-girl which definitely became intruding for the victim’s privacy as he also shared her personal details for contacting. The documentary evidence under Sec 65B of the Evidence Act is sustainable before the court. Counsel for the Accused contended that as per sec.65B, to make an output admissible in evidence, the certificate of the person having lawful control over the use of computer is essential and that evidence produced before the court is invalid. This section doesn’t not suggest that the certificate should be issued by an expert, it is enough if the person issuing the certificate stated that any matter covered by the certificate was to be of his best knowledge. The victim herself has taken out the computer output from her systems and speaks about them in her evidence.

Arguments on behalf of the Accused discussed

The documentary evidence was not sustainable under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 85B of the IEA states that only in the case of secured electronic record, the court shall presume that such records have not been altered. In the case of other electronic records section 65B insists for a certificate. The legislative wisdom itself accepts that electronic records can be altered and hence the certificate. The accused is neither liable under sec.469 nor 509 of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant has blocked the ID of the alleged accused so that she doesn’t receive messages from him, in the same document produced it is seen that the email ID of her ex-husband was also blocked. Question arises why she blocked his messages that too after blocking the ID of the accused. The prosecution has no answers to these questions. Such obscene messages can also be made by her ex-husband too.

The accused is not liable under Sec.67 of the IT Act, 2000. The offending mails are sent by the lady herself to implicate the accused as accused alleged to have refused her marriage proposal. It is submitted from the evidence that the warning message and the blocking of E-mail ID of accused was done from the computer system installed at prosecution’s house and computer system installed at her office respectively. The Investigation Officer has failed to inspect the computer system at the residence and office nor took any precaution to establish the chain of custody required in computer forensics.

With the evidences and arguments proposed on behalf of the prosecution, and the witnesses produced, Ld. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Egmore, delivered the judgment on 5-11-04 as follows - the accused was found guilty of offences under s.469, 509 IPC and under s.67 of the I.T. Act and the accused is convicted and is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 2 years u/s 468 IPC and pay a fine of Rs-500/- and for offences u/s 509 IPC sentenced to undergo 1 year simple imprisonment and pay fine Rs-500/- and for offence u/s 67 of IT Act to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and pay fine of Rs-4000/-.

Internet has played a vital role in our lives in an unprecedented manner. State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti was the first case in India where a conviction was handled in connection with the posting of obscene messages on the Internet under sec.67 of the I.T. Act, 2000. Cases like Avnish Bajaj v. State [1] , National Association Of Software v. Ajay Sood And Ors. [2] are some noteworthy cyber law cases in India. There is a heavy toll in the growing number of cybercrimes across India. The law enforcement agencies should be made aware about the various facets of cybercrimes and that there should be an effective redressal mechanism taking cognizance of such cyber crime activities effectively.

NB - The case of Suhas Katti vs. State of Tamil Nadu is not available in any of the online legal databases. If you wish to read the original scanned judgement of the case, kindly mail us : [email protected]

[1] Avnish Bajaj v. State of N.C.T of Delhi , 116 (2005) DLT 427.

[2] National Association Of Software v. Ajay Sood And Ors ., 119 (2005) DLT 596

Article 21 and Victim Compensation Scheme- Case Analysis of Serina Mondal Judgement

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A Study on Cyber Crime and its Legal Framework in India

Apoorva Bhangla and Jahanvi Tuli
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Apoorva Bhangla

Student at NMIMS School of Law, India

Jahanvi Tuli

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Cyber-crime mainly involves activities that use internet and computers as a tool to extract private information of an individual either directly or indirectly and disclosing it on online platforms without the person’s consent or illegally with the aim of degrading the reputation or causing mental or physical harm. With the advancement in technology a steep increase in the rate of cyber-crimes has been observed. With the increase of dependency on cyberspace internet crimes committed against women have also increased. This is mainly because around more than half of the online users are not fully aware of the functioning of online platforms, they are ignorant towards technological advancements and have minimal adequate training and education. Thus, cybercrime has emerged as a major challenge for the law enforcement agencies of different countries in order to protect women and children who are harassed and abused for voyeuristic pleasures. Women are commonly targeted for cyber stalking, cyber pornography, impersonation etc. India is one of the few countries which has enacted the IT Act 2000 to deal with issues pertaining to cyber-crimes in order to protect the women from exploitation by vicious predators however this act doesn’t address some of the gravest dangers to the security of the women and issues involving women are still growing immensely.

Cyber-crime
online platforms.

Research Paper

Information

International Journal of Law Management and Humanities, Volume 4, Issue 2, Page 493 - 504

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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution -NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits remixing, adapting, and building upon the work for non-commercial use, provided the original work is properly cited.

I. Introduction

The advent of technology has provided women an opportunity to explore their strengths and widen their capabilities. With the rapid modernisation taking place all over the world, internet has become a part of our daily lives. It has proved to be an efficient tool of communication. However, with the increase of dependency on cyberspace internet crimes committed against women have also increased. Women all over the world have been victims to a number of harassments for decades now. With the advent of technology and digitalisation people have the ability to communicate virtually with anybody, anytime and anywhere across the globe. Cyber-crime has emerged as one of the results of this modernisation. Online platforms are often used to harass and abuse women for voyeuristic pleasures. One of the major reasons as to why it takes place is because of the fact that around more than half of the online users are not fully aware of the functioning of online platforms such as WhatsApp, skype, Facebook, etc. There is minimal adequate training and education that is provided to the users. Moreover, ignorance towards technological advancements has carved its way for such heinous crimes. Women are commonly targeted for cyber stalking, cyber pornography, impersonation etc. The victims often trust the offender and share their private data or information as a consequence of which innumerable cyber-crimes take place daily. Due to fear of defamation in the society and lack of evidence it becomes really difficult to identify the origin of the crime. Cyber-crime has become a concept wherein majority of cases the victims have been women who have fallen prey to technological fancies. A steep increase in the rate of cyber-crimes has been observed in different countries where the primary concern has always been the protection of women. India is one of the few countries which has enacted the IT Act 2000 to deal with issues pertaining to cyber-crimes in order to protect the women from exploitation by vicious predators and provide them support so that they can fight back against all wrongdoings. Many institutions have taken up the issues pertaining to cybercrime in order to raise awareness for the safety of women but still a steep increase has been observed in this area, which poses a negative impact on the development of the nation.

II. What is Cyber Crime?

Cybercrimes can be defined as: “Offences that are committed against individuals or groups of individuals with a criminal motive to intentionally harm the reputation of the victim or cause physical or mental harm, or loss, to the victim directly or indirectly, using modern telecommunication networks such as Internet (networks including chat rooms, emails, notice boards and groups) and mobile phones”. [1]

Cyber-crime involves the use of internet and computer. It threatens an individual’s privacy by disclosing or publishing their personal or confidential information online with the aim of degrading their reputation and causing them physical or mental harm either directly or indirectly. Women are generally the targets of these offenders because they are inexperienced and lack knowledge of the cyber world, thereby falling prey to the technological fancies.

Debarati Halder and K. Jaishankar further define cybercrime from the perspective of gender and defined “cybercrime against women” as “Crimes targeted against women with a motive to intentionally harm the victim psychologically and physically, using modern telecommunication networks such as internet and mobile phones”.

Types of Cyber Crime

Cyberstalking

In today’s modern world, it is one of the most commonly committed crimes. It involves following a person’s movements and pursuing him/her stealthily. It involves gathering data that maybe used to harass a person or making false accusations or threats. A cyber stalker uses internet to stalk someone and thus, doesn’t pose a direct physical threat to an individual but due to the anonymity of the interactions that take place online the chances of identification of the cyber stalker becomes quite difficult which makes this crime more common than physical stalking.

One of the major targets of cyber stalking is women and children who are stalked by men and adult predators namely, for revenge, for sexual harassment and for ego. Most of the times, the victim is unaware of the use and rules of the internet and the anonymity of the users has contributed to the rise of cyber stalking as a form of crime. The offender for committing this offence maybe charged for breach of confidentiality and privacy under section 72 of the IT Act, 2000 as cyber stalking is yet not covered under existing cyber laws in India. Also, section 441 and 509 of IPC are also applicable for the same.

Cyber Pornography

It is a major threat to women and children security as it involves publishing and transmitting pornographic pictures, photos or writings using the internet which can be reproduced on various other electronic devices instantly. It refers to portrayal of sexual material on the internet.

According to A.P. Mali, “It is the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures or words that also includes pornography is verbal or pictorial material which represents or describes sexual behaviour that is degrading or abusive to one or more of participants in such a way as to endorse the degradation. The person has chosen or consented to be harmed, abused, subjected to coercion does not alter the degrading character of such behaviour.” [2] Around 50% of the total websites on the internet show pornographic material wherein photos and pictures of women are posted online that are dangerous to women’s integrity.

According to IT Amendment Act 2008 “crime of pornography under section 67-A, whoever publishes and transmits or causes to be a published and transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or conduct can be called as pornography. Section 292/293/294, 500/506 and 509 of Indian Panel Code, 1860 are also applicable and victim can file a complaint near the Police Station where the crime has been committed or where he comes to know about crime. After proving crime, the accused can be called as first conviction with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years including fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees. In the second conviction the term of imprisonment may extend to seven years and fine may extend to ten lakh rupees”.

Cyber Morphing

It is a form of crime in which the original picture is edited by an unauthorised user or a person possessing a fake identity. Photographs are taken of female users from their profiles and are then reposted for pornographic purposes by fake accounts on different sites after editing them. Due to the lack of awareness among the users the criminals are encouraged to commit such heinous crimes. Cyber morphing or Cyber obscenity is punishable under section 43 and 66 of Information Act 2000.

Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying involves the use of internet for causing embarrassment or humiliation to someone place by sharing their personal or private data by sending, posting or sharing harmful or false content over digital devices like computers, tablets, laptops and cell phones. It can take place through SMS, online gaming communities, online forums or social media platforms wherein information can be exchanged online and is available to a number of people. Cyberbullying is persistent and permanent and therefore, can harm the online reputation of not just the victim but both the parties involved.

Email Spoofing and Impersonation

It is one of the most common cybercrime. It involves sending e-mail which represents its origin. In today’s times, this from of crime has become immensely common that it becomes really difficult to assess as to whether the mail that is received is truly from the original sender. Email spoofing is mostly used to extract personal information and private images from women fraudulently and are later used to blackmail them. According to a report, there has been a 280% of increase of phishing attacks since 2016. Avanan research depicts that around 4% of the total emails that are received by an individual user are fraudulent emails. In Gujarat Ambuja’s Executive case, the 51 year old cyber 1 criminal created a fake email ID and pretending to be a woman indulged in a “cyber relationship” extorting Rs 96 lakh from an Abu Dhabi based businessman. [3]

Email spoofing is an offence under section 66-D of the Information Technology Amendment Act, 2008 and section 417, 419 and 465 of Indian Panel Code 1860. It is a cognizable, bailable and compoundable offence with permission of the court before which the prosecution of such offence is pending and triable by any magistrate.

Online Trolling

It is a form of online violence on social media platforms where people are given the liberty to speak their mind. Online harassers often tend to target people who express their opinions and think differently from the prevailing societal norms. On such section constitutes of females who are targeted by social media bullies. According to Digital Hifazat report, “women that are vocal online, especially on topics that have been traditionally relegated to ‘male expertise’ like religion or politics, or about women’s experiences, including those of sexuality, menstruation, or speaking out about patriarchy, are subjected to a vicious form of trolling, usually from self-identified right-wing accounts on Twitter.” [4]

Social media bullying takes a toll on the mental as well as the physical health of the victims. Abuse, hate speech and mean comments are the most common elements of trolling. The most common consequences of trolling are self-censorship and mental health concerns.

III. Extent of cybercrime against women in india

With approximately 688 million active users, India is the second largest internet market in the world. [5] Sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and Snapchat are the most liked in India. While internet population has been increasing there still is a gender divide. According to a report published by IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India) on internet usage in India, about 67% of the users are male compared to which only 33% are female. [6] This disparity between the male and female users is the major reason for the growth of cybercrime incidents against women.

Cyber-crimes are illegal activities which is forbidden by the law and committed by the use of internet and cyber technology. Cyber-crimes can be committed against any person, property or government but this paper solely focuses on cyber- crimes against women. According to National Crime Research Bureau there was sharp increase in the number of reported cyber-crime in 2017 in comparison to past years. Further increase in the reported cybercrimes can be seen in the year 2018. “While a total of 21,796 crimes were recorded under both IPC and IT Act in 2017, the number has increased to 27,248 in 2018.” [7] In 2017 NCRB for the first time had included categories relating to women and child on the nature of crimes committed against them.

Since the 1990s the information technology has taken giant strides forward and every family who has a modest income has the internet service. Individuals from varying age are able to use it everywhere starting from their home to their workplace. It can be deduced that internet has become a world on its own with its own place where one can share, have cultural values or opportunities. But it has its own disadvantages, the cyber world has become a place for wrongdoers to defraud women and some even going as low as to encroach children. The ceaseless advancement of internet is making it harder to detect and regulate leading to rise of cyber criminals. Due to technological innovations cyber criminals are able to commit crime with a fake identity from any place in the world. This means that they do not have any physical contact with the real world and are mostly getting away with it without any punishment. With the protection of anonymity people are able to access any kind of material on the web which leads to huge number of anti-social, violent and aggressive content.

One of the major reason for the rise of cyber-crime against women apart from the advancement of internet is the fact that Indian women are not open on reporting a cyber-crime. They fear that it will bring disgrace to their families. Most of the times they believe that it is their own fault that the crime happened. Cyber space is a world on its own and people come and go as they please. This makes the cyber criminals to commit a crime and escape punishment easily. Through various instances it can be seen that women befriend men on the internet who forms a bond by discussing their lives and pretending to be the woman’s true friend. Gradually they form a strong friendship and then starts to send obscene messages. In this tinstance it is the duty of the woman to report the person but it can be seen that in the most of the cases they shy away and this gives more courage to the cyber-criminal. A 2016 survey on Violence Online in India conducted by the Feminism in India portal on 500 individuals (97% women and 3% trans-genders) found that 58 percent of respondents “had faced some kind of online aggression in the form of trolling, bullying, abuse or harassment”. But 38% of those who faced such violence did not take any action. [8] The victim women needs to understand that by reporting the man the problem can be solved and further saving the lives of other woman who can be the criminal’s future targets.

IV. The legal framework

There are two unique features of the Internet. Firstly, it is not confined to a particular boundary and the cyber-criminal can commit a crime from ay part of the world. The second unique feature is that it provide anonymity to its users which has its own boon and bane. For people who use this anonymity for putting out their opinion to the world it’s a boon but the perpetrators who use this anonymity for commission of crime it is a bane. Therefore this features not only pose a challenge in crime prevention but also in the implementation of law. At present there is no specific law that deals with cyber-crime against women. Other laws which can be used in the specific case, most women are not aware of. Women does not know about their rights or that such rights exist.

There are many laws in statues and regulations which penalises cyber-crime. But the majority of the laws belong to the Indian penal Code (IPC), 1860 and the Information technology Act (IT Act), 2000. The IPC is the general criminal code of India which defines offences and prescribes punishment for the same. IPC covers laws and punishment pertaining to physical world and has been legislatively amended and judiciously interpreted to be applicable to cyber criminals. Whereas the IT Act is a specific code pertaining to use of information technology and crime committed through it. In 2008 IT Amendment Act was enacted inclusive of certain crimes related to cyber world. Both IT Act and IPC are complementary to each other on cyber-crime against women. The below mentioned table is taken from a discussion paper published by IT for Change it showcases the laws that a cyber-criminal can be charged with when he/she commits a crime against women. Following which the loopholes in the said laws is analysed.

Table 1. Key legal provisions that can be invoked to address online Violence against women [9]

Lacuna in the Existing Provision of Law

The verbal abuse made online which does not contain any sexual content is not properly tackled. General sexist comments have not been taken under Section 499 and Section 507 of the IPC which deals with criminal defamation and criminal intimidation pertaining to those trolls that are of personal nature. Further, doxing without any circulation of sexual material and without any intimidation is not included. Section 66 of the IT Act criminalises hacking but it does not explicitly state the act of doxing through hacking. Online trolling, verbal abuse, hacking for doxing has been treated as personal and isolated crime in Section 499 and Section 507 of IPC and Section 66 of the IT Act. It is important to note that this act of abuse is committed against women because she is a women. From the past it can be seen that the abuse is based on the women’s sexuality and caste.
Section 66E of IT Act and Section 354C, Section 354D of the Criminal Laws Amendment Act 2013 are the exception to violence as physical harm and not as intrusion to bodily integrity and personal autonomy as defined by the other sections of IT Act and IPC. These sections also just focuses on physical privacy and not on the “informational privacy”. [10] It is to be considered that Section 509 of IPC mention “Privacy” but it only talks about privacy with respect to women’s modesty. “Sexual violence is largely viewed from the standpoint of maintaining public decency through curbing obscenity and protecting the modesty of women.” [11] Further, it can be seen that withdrawn at any point. Sexual violence is combined with the need to regulate the ratification and representation of sexuality which results in reinforcing genders norms of protecting women’s sexuality rather than protecting her bodily integrity or their informational privacy. Section 72 [12] and Section 43 read with Section 66 [13] of the IT Act is an economic offence and not a gender or social offence.
Psychological violence based on gender against women is not recognised by the law outside their familial setting. Acknowledgement of psychological violence that is the circulation of private information through infringement of privacy which is not of sexual nature is not been done.
Additionally laws like Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 which deals with cases related to psychological violence at home and live in relationships does not talk about cybercrime with respect to women.

V. Suggestions

While using online platform not divulging any personal data is almost impossible and thus, one should beware while sharing any personal information online.
It is imperative that an eye should be kept on phony email messages and such emails should not be responded to that ask for personal information. Also, email address should be guarded.
While engaging in online activities it is imperative that attention should be paid to privacy policies on websites and steer clear of fraudulent websites used to steal personal information.
It is necessary that response to offences on the internet against women should be seen as part of the broader movement against harassment and abuse. Broader efforts should be initiated as it is ultimately a people- centred challenge.
Keeping up with the pace of change is the need of the hour. Keeping up with the technological advancements is a challenge that is essential to overcome as most of the online crimes takes place due to the lack of knowledge and awareness among the users.
A collaborative effort among media, clubs, associations and women’s media networks is critical to promote women’s leadership and decision making in the society.
Online diligence, monitoring and reporting against violence and cyber-crime should be done effectively and efficiently.
There should be an E-portal where women can report their problems online themselves without suffering from the stigma of involving police in such matters. Also, the database of criminals should be maintained which could help in law enforcement.
Women should be made aware about using online media platforms and adequate procedures should be followed by them. They need to be aware of their right in the cyberspace.
Education systems must initiate contemporary issues regarding online crimes and awareness should be spread regarding safe internet uses.
The government should make more rigid rules to apply on the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as they have the entire record of the data that is accuses by the users surfing on the web. Also, in case of any suspicious activities a report should be made by them in order to prevent crimes at an early stage.

VI. Conclusion

“The law is not the be-all and end-all solution.” Victims are still not getting justice despite of a strong legal base in spite of them remaining silent. Cyber-crime against women is just a reality check of what really is going on in the real world. The lines between the online and offline world is getting blurred. Cyber-crime happens because the criminals think that is a much easier way with less punishment. With millions of users in the online platforms complaint mechanisms has also become fruitless.

For instance in the recent boy’s locker room case where group of teenage boys from Delhi shared pictures of underage women and objectified them by passing derogatory comments on group chat in Instagram and Snapchat. When a girl shared the screenshots of the chats the group was busted. Women all over country raised voices but it could be seen that they were not shocked. The reason is that objectification of women has become quite normal in the society. Women have has accepted this mentality of objectification by male as every day new cases come into light. Years have passed and still women lives in the fear of going out alone outside in the real world. In fact the online world which she could go to in the safety of her home has also become an unsafe place.

It comes upon the women to take preventive measures such as usage of data security, not leaving digital footprint, keeping everything password protected. But this are all superficial ways. The major problem that has always been existing is the patriarchy and misogyny in the society. To solve this problem a long term measure need to be undertaken that will help in dealing with cyber-crime against women.

There is the need of the hour to evolve the societal and cultural norms with the development of information technology. Mandatory steps need to be taken. Steps like digital literacy, development of data security, providing access of technology to women and girls and most of all enactment of laws specifically on cyber-crime especially with reference to women.

[1] DEBRATI HALDER & K. JAISHANKAR, CYBER CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN IN INDIA

[2] Adv. Prashant Mali, IT Act 2000: Types of Cyber Crimes & Cyber Law in India-Part 1 .

[3] Case of Cyber Extortion , INDIA FORENSIC, (Jan 20, 2021), http://www.indiaforensic.com/cyberextortion.htm

[4] Trolls Target Women: Dealing with Online Violence, THE CITIZEN, (Jan 21, 2021), https://www.thecitizen.in/ index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/7/17330/Trolls-Target-Women-Dealing-with-Online-Violence

[5] Digital population in India as of January 2020 , STATISTA, (Jan 21, 2021), www.statista.com/statistics/309866/ india-digital-population/.

[6] India Internet 2019 , IAMAI, (Jan 28, 2021), https://cms.iamai.in/Content/ResearchPapers/d3654bcc-002f-4fc7-ab39-e1fbeb00005d.pdf

[7] Crime in India- 2018 , NCRB, (Jan 28, 2021), https://ncrb.gov.in/crime-india-2018

[8] Pasricha & Japleen, “Violence” online in India: Cybercrimes against women and minorities on social media , http://feminisminindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/FII_cyberbullying_report_website.pdf

[9] Technology-mediated violence against women in India, IT FOR CHANGE, (Jan 29, 2021), https://itforchange.net/e-vaw/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/DISCUSSIONPAPER.pdf

[10] “Information privacy, or data privacy (or data protection), concerns personally identifiable information or other sensitive information and how it is collected, stored, used, and finally destroyed or deleted – in digital form or otherwise. In relation to technology, it pertains to the relationship between collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, and the legal and political issues surrounding them.”

[11] supra note 9

[12] Breach of privacy and confidentiality

[13] Data Theft

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Analysis of determinants of groundwater depletion in rice-wheat ecosystems of Punjab- a case of India

Published: 29 May 2024

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Mandeep Bhardwaj ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4110-479X 1 &
Tanima Dutta 1

Green Revolution brought spectacular growth in three central states of the country: Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Many issues, such as monocropping, groundwater depletion and stagnancy in agriculture production, became major concerns during the 1980s as a by-product of the success of the Green Revolution. In recent years, over-exploitation of groundwater due to the shifting of conventional irrigation from surface to groundwater has shown elevating demand for water for irrigational purposes. Groundwater depletion is one of the burning issues plaguing Indian agriculture. Punjab, our study area, has been flagged as an over-exploited area since the nineties. This study identifies the determinants of poor groundwater conditions in Punjab from 1996 to 2018. The methodology used to establish the relationship between various agriculture-related variables and groundwater depletion is the Feasible Generalised Least Square model as Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS), which has inherent problems when it deals with panel data. The study results have shown a positive significant effect of changing cropping intensity, well density, irrigation through tube-well, and use of technology (tractor) on depletion of groundwater. However, change in the area under paddy has shown a negative effect on groundwater depletion due to the Preservation of Subsoil Water Act of 2009. So, it implies that the Government must find alternative ways of reducing the intensive use of groundwater and reframe its agriculture policies.

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14. NCIIPC, "Quarterly Vulnerability Analysis Report," 2019, https://nciipc.gov.in/.The DeITY defined critical information infrastructure as "sectors that are critical to the nation and whose incapacitation or destruction will have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health or safety", cit. in Saikat Datta, "The Deadly New Age War," The Hindu, June 23, 2015 ...
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The study results have shown a positive significant effect of changing cropping intensity, well density, irrigation through tube-well, and use of technology (tractor) on depletion of groundwater. However, change in the area under paddy has shown a negative effect on groundwater depletion due to the Preservation of Subsoil Water Act of 2009.

Important Cases On Information Technology Act, 2000

Key Takeaways

Introduction

Important Case Laws on Information Technology Act, 2000

2. Amar Singh v. Union of India [(2011) 4 AWC 3726 SC]

3. Nirmaljit Singh Narula v. Indijobs at Hubpages.Com [CS (OS) 871 / 2012]

4. Vyakti Vikas Kendra, India Public v. Jitender Bagga [CS (OS) No. 1340 / 2012]

5. Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v. Myspace Inc. [CS (OS) No. 2682/2008]

6. Banyan Tree v. A. Murali Krishna Reddy & Anr, [2010 (42) PTC 361 (Del)]

7. Writs challenging the validity of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021

8. Shreya Singhal v. Union of India [AIR 2015 SC 1523]

9. M/s Gujarat Petrosynthese Ltd &Anr.v. Union of India [2014 (1) Kar L J 121]

10. CBI v. Arif Azim (Sony Sambandh case) [(2008) 150 DLT 769]

11. State of Tamil Nadu v. Suhas Katti [CC No. 4680 of 2004]

12. SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt Ltd v.Jogesh Kwatra [CM APPL No. 33474 of 2016]

13. Avnish Bajaj v. State (NCT) of Delhi [(2008) 150 DLT 769]

14. Christian Louboutin SAS v. Nakul Bajaj &Ors [(2018) 253 DLT 728]

15. Nasscom v. Ajay Sood & Ors. [119 (2005) DLT 596]

16. Department of Electronics and Information Technology v. Star India Pvt. Ltd. [R.P. 131/2016 in FAO(OS) 57/2015]

17. Kent Systems Ltd. and Ors. v. Amit Kotak and Ors. 2017 (69) PTC 551 (Del)

18. Google India Pvt. Ltd. v. M/S Vishaka Industries Limited [Second Appeal No. 505 of 2016]

19. State v. Mohd. Afzal & Ors. [2003 (71) DRJ 178]

20. Syed Asifuddin& Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh & Anr. [2005 Cr LJ 4314]

21. Dharamvir v. Central Bureau of Investigation [148 (2008) DLT 289]

22. P.R Transport Agency v. Union of India & Ors. [AIR 2006 All 23]

23. Umashankar Sivasubramanian v. ICICI Bank (Petition No. 2462 of 2008)

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Objectives of IT legislation in India

Structure of IT Act

What is a cyber crime?

Cases Studies as per selected IT Act Sections

Common Cyber-crime scenarios and Applicability of Legal Sections

Landmark Cyber Law cases in India

Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000)

IT Act, 2000

IT Act – 2008 Amendments

Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018

Frequently Asked Questions Related to Information Technology Act 2000

How many sections are in the IT Act 2000?

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Introduction

Cyber Technology

Cyber Ethics

Cyber Crimes

Cyber Crime Techniques

Keyloggers and Spyware

Prevention and Protection

Cyber Forensics

Cyber Crime Investigation

Cyber security Evolution

Cyber security Objectives

Classical Encryption Techniques

Block Ciphers and the Data Encryption Standard

Advanced Encryption Standard

Moreon Symmetric Ciphers

Introduction to Number Theory

Public-Key Cryptography and RSA

Key Management:OtherPublic-Key Cryptosystems

Message Authentication and Hash Functions

Hashand MAC Algorithms

Digital Signatures and Authentication Protocols

Authentication Applications

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Strengthening Cyber Security and Data Protection in India: An Analysis of Legal Frameworks and Case Studies

Introduction

Overview of Cybercrime in India

Overview of Data Privacy in India

Legal Provisions for Cyber Crimes

Legal Framework for Cybersecurity and Data Protection in India

Case Studies