Cyber Law

UNIT-3 : Offences & Penalties

The Information Technology ACT, 2008

The act includes provisions for the following

● tightening cybersecurity measures

● establishing a legal framework for digital signatures
● recognizing and regulating intermediaries
● regulating interception, monitoring and decryption of electronic
records
● cyber forensics
● cyberterrorism

Salient Features of Information Technology amendment act 2008

The IT Act 2000 amendment witnessed major changes through its 2008 Amendment -
(Information Technology Amendment Act 2008), which aimed at making itself
technologically neutral. It was initiated at the Parliament to address certain drawbacks
and deficiencies the original Act faced. The new changes brought by the amendment
hopes to help the Act accommodate future development of IT and related security
concerns in this dynamic sector. It further includes several provisions relating to data
protection and privacy. Here are some of the major changes

● Incorporation of Electronic Signature: To go by their aim of making the act

‘technologically neutral, the term ‘digital signature’ has been replaced with
 ‘electronic signature’, as the latter represents an umbrella term which
encompasses many different types of digital marketing, while the former is a
specific type of electronic signature.

● Fight against Cyber-terrorism: Pursuant to the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks, the

amendment has incorporated the concept of cyber terrorism and prescribed hefty
punishments for it. The scope of cybercrime under Section 66 is widened with
many major additions defining various cybercrimes along with the controversial
Section 66A which penalized sending “offensive messages”. Section 66A was
later found to be in violation of one’s fundamental right to freedom of speech and
expression and thus was struck down.

● Child Pornography: Along with reducing the term of imprisonment and

increasing the fine for publishing obscene material in electronic form, an array of
sections have also been inserted under Section 67, one among which
recognizes publishing child pornography as a felonious act.

● Cyber Cafes: Cybercrimes like sending obscene e-mails to harass individuals,

identity theft, and maliciously acquiring net banking passwords have many at
times been taking place at Cyber Cafes. Due to the lack of inclusion of ‘Cyber
Cafes’ in the IT Act, they are incapable of being regulated. The 2008 amendment
explicitly defines them and includes them under the term ‘intermediaries’,
thus allowing several aspects of the Act to be applicable to them. This lead to an
great movement of the government that they did IT Act 2000 amendment which
became information technology amendment act 2008.
 ● Government Interception and Monitoring: The new amendment allows the
government to listen in to your phone calls, read your SMS’s and emails,
and monitor the websites you visit without getting a warrant from a magistrate.
The same clause under the Telegraph Act was restricted by the condition of
public emergency or safety, but the new amendment drops all such restrictions,
vastly extending the government’s power.

Applicability of IT Act,2008

The Information Technology Amendment Act is applicable to any person,

company or organization that uses computer systems, computer networks or
other information technology in India.

This includes but is not limited to the following:

● web hosting service providers

● internet service providers
● network service providers
● telecom service providers

This includes foreign companies and organizations with a presence in India, as

well as Indian companies and organizations with operations outside of India.
 Various cyber Crimes: Section 43(a) to 43(j)

If any person without permission of the owner or any other person who is
incharge of a computer, computer system or computer network –

(a) accesses or secures access to such computer, computer system or

computer network or computer resource;

(b) downloads, copies or extracts any data, computer data base or

information from such computer, computer system or computer network
including information or data held or stored in any removable storage
medium;

(c) introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or

computer virus into any computer, computer system or computer network;

(d) damages or causes to be damaged any computer, computer system or

computer network, data, computer data base or any other programmes
residing in such computer, computer system or computer network;

(e) disrupts or causes disruption of any computer, computer system

or computer network;

(f) denies or causes the denial of access to any person authorised to

access any computer, computer system or computer network by any
means;
(g) 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 thereunder;

(h) 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;

(i) destroys, deletes or alters any information residing in a computer

resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injurously by
any means;

(j) 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,

he shall be liable to pay damages by way of compensation to the

person so affected.

Section 43A: Compensation for failure to protect data

(Inserted vide ITAA 2006)

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. (Change vide ITAA 2008)

Section 65: Tampering with Computer Source Documents

Whoever knowingly or intentionally conceals, destroys or alters or

intentionally or knowingly causes another to conceal, destroy or alter any
computer source code used for a computer, computer programme, computer
system or computer network, when the computer source code is required to
be kept or maintained by law for the time being in force, shall be punishable
with imprisonment up to three years, or with fine which may extend up to
two lakh rupees, or with both.

Section 66: Computer Related Offences (Substituted vide ITAA

2008)

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.

Section 66A: Punishment for sending offensive messages through

communication service, etc.

( Introduced vide ITAA 2008)

Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a

communication device,-
 ​ a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing
character; or
​ b) 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,

c) 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 (Inserted vide ITAA
2008)

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two
three years and with fine.

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, terms "Electronic mail" and
"Electronic Mail Message" means a message or information created or
transmitted or received on a computer, computer system, computer resource
or communication device including attachments in text, image, audio, video
and any other electronic record, which may be transmitted with the
message.

[Section 66 B] Punishment for dishonestly receiving stolen computer

resource or communication device (Inserted Vide ITA 2008):

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. (Inserted Vide ITA
2008):

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 (Inserted Vide ITA 2008):

Whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource

cheats by personation, 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.

[Section 66E] Punishment for violation of privacy. (Inserted Vide

ITA 2008):

Whoever, intentionally or knowingly captures, publishes or transmits the image of a

private area of any person without his or her consent, under circumstances violating the
privacy of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three
years or with fine not exceeding two lakh rupees, or with both

Explanation - For the purposes of this section–

(a) “transmit” means to electronically send a visual image with the intent that it be
viewed by a person or persons;

(b) “capture”, with respect to an image, means to videotape, photograph, film or record
by any means;
(c) “private area” means the naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks
or female breast;

(d) “publishes” means reproduction in the printed or electronic form and making it
available for public;

(e) “under circumstances violating privacy” means circumstances in which a person can
have a reasonable expectation that--

(i) he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that an

image of his private area was being captured; or

(ii) 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.

[Section 66F] Punishment for cyber terrorism:

(1) Whoever,-

(A) with intent to threaten the unity, integrity, security or sovereignty of India or to strike
terror in the people or any section of the people by –

​ (i) denying or cause the denial of access to any person authorized to access
computer resource; or
​ (ii) attempting to penetrate or access a computer resource without authorisation
or exceeding authorized access; or
​ (iii) 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
(B) 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.

(2) Whoever commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism shall be

punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life’.

Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form

Section 67 provides for punishment to whoever transmits or publishes or

causes to be published or transmitted, any material which is obscene in
electronic form with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years
and with fine which may extend to Rs.1 lakh on first conviction. In the event
of second or subsequent conviction the imprisonment would be for a term
which may extend to ten years and fine which may extend to Rs. 2 lakhs. As
per ITAA 2008, Section 67 is given as under:

[Section 67] Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene

material in electronic form (Amended vide ITAA 2008):

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 and in 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 67 A] Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material

containing sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form (Inserted vide
ITAA 2008):

Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in

the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act or
conduct shall 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 and in 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.

Exception: This section and section 67 does not extend to any book,
pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure in
electronic form-

​ (i) the publication of which is proved to be justified as being for the

public good on the ground that such book, pamphlet, paper, writing,
drawing, painting, representation or figure is in the interest of science,
literature, art, or learning or other objects of general concern; or
​ (ii) which is kept or used bona fide for religious purposes.

[Section 67 B] Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material

depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc. in electronic form:
Whoever,-

​ (a) 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
​ (b) 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
​ (c) 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
​ (d) facilitates abusing children online or
​ (e) records in any electronic form own abuse or that of others
pertaining to sexually explicit act with children, shall be punished on
first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term
which may extend to five years and with a fine which may extend to
ten lakh rupees and in 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:
Provided that the provisions of section 67, section 67A and this section
does not extend to any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing,
painting, representation or figure in electronic form-
​ (i) The publication of which is proved to be justified as being for
the public good on the ground that such book, pamphlet, paper
writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure is in the
interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of
general concern; or
 ​ (ii) which is kept or used for bonafide heritage or religious
purposes

Explanation: For the purposes of this section, "children" means a person who
has not completed the age of 18 years.

[Section 70] Protected system (Amended Vide ITAA-2008):

​ (1) The appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official

Gazette, declare any computer resource which directly or indirectly
affects the facility of Critical Information Infrastructure, to be a
protected system.
Explanation: For the purposes of this section, "Critical Information
Infrastructure" means the computer resource, the incapacitation or
destruction of which , shall have debilitating impact on national
security, economy, public health or safety. (Substituted vide ITAA-
2008)
​ (2) The appropriate Government may, by order in writing, authorize
the persons who are authorized to access protected systems notified
under sub-section (1)
​ (3) Any person who secures access or attempts to secure access to a
protected system in contravention of the provisions of this section shall
be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which
may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine.
​ (4) The Central Government shall prescribe the information security
practices and procedures for such protected system. (Inserted vide
ITAA 2008)

[Section 70 A] National nodal agency. (Inserted vide ITAA 2008):

​ (1) The Central Government may, by notification published in the

official Gazette, designate any organization of the Government as the
 national nodal agency in respect of Critical Information Infrastructure
Protection.
​ (2) The national nodal agency designated under sub-section (1) shall
be responsible for all measures including Research and Development
relating to protection of Critical Information Infrastructure.
​ (3) The manner of performing functions and duties of the agency
referred to in sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed.

[Section 70 B] Indian Computer Emergency Response Team to serve

as national agency for incident response:

​ (1) The Central Government shall, by notification in the Official

Gazette, appoint an agency of the government to be called the Indian
Computer Emergency Response Team.
​ (2) The Central Government shall provide the agency referred to in
sub-section (1) with a Director General and such other officers and
employees as may be prescribed.
​ (3) The salary and allowances and terms and conditions of the
Director General and other officers and employees shall be such as
may be prescribed.
​ (4) The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team shall serve as
the national agency for performing the following functions in the area
of Cyber Security,-
​ (a) collection, analysis and dissemination of information on
cyber incidents
​ (b) forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents
​ (c) emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents
​ (d) coordination of cyber incidents response activities
 ​ (e) issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and white
papers relating to information security practices, procedures,
prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents
​ (f) such other functions relating to cyber security as may be
prescribed
​ (5) The manner of performing functions and duties of the agency
referred to in sub-section (1) shall be such as may be prescribed.
​ (6) For carrying out the provisions of sub-section (4), the agency
referred to in sub-section (1) may call for information and give
direction to the service providers, intermediaries, data centers, body
corporate and any other person
​ (7) Any service provider, intermediaries, data centers, body corporate
or person who fails to provide the information called for or comply with
the direction under sub-section (6), shall be punishable with
imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine
which may extend to one lakh rupees or with both.
​ (8) No Court shall take cognizance of any offence under this section,
except on a complaint made by an officer authorized in this behalf by
the agency referred to in sub-section (1).

[Section 80] Power of Police Officer and Other Officers to Enter,

Search, etc.:

​ (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal

Procedure, 1973, any police officer, not below the rank of a Inspector
or any other officer of the Central Government or a State Government
authorized by the Central Government in this behalf may enter any
public place and search and arrest without warrant any person found
therein who is reasonably suspected of having committed or of
 committing or of being about to commit any offence under this Act
Explanation
For the purposes of this sub-section, the expression "Public Place"
includes any public conveyance, any hotel, any shop or any other place
intended for use by, or accessible to the public.
​ (2) Where any person is arrested under sub-section (1) by an officer
other than a police officer, such officer shall, without unnecessary
delay, take or send the person arrested before a magistrate having
jurisdiction in the case or before the officer-in-charge of a police
station.
​ (3) The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 shall,
subject to the provisions of this section, apply, so far as may be, in
relation to any entry, search or arrest, made under this section.
​

Penal Provisions for Phishing:

Phishing is a fraud that is recognized as cybercrime and attracts many penal

provisions ofthe Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as
‘IT Act’). This act was amended in the year 2008, which added a few new
provisions and solutions that give a scope to deal with the Phishing activity.

The sections which apply to phishing under the IT Act are:

1. Section 43: If any person without the permission of the owner of

the computer, computer system, computer network; accesses,
downloads, introduces, disrupts, denies, or provides any assistance
to other people can be held liable under this section.
2. Section 66: If the accounts of a victim are compromised by the
phisher, who does any act mentioned in Section 43 of the IT act,
 shall be imprisoned for a term which may exceed up to three years
or with a fine which may exceed up to five lakh rupees or both.
3. Section 66A: Any person who sends any information which he
knows to be false, but is sending it with the intention to damage a
victim shall be punishable with the punishment given under Section
66 of the IT Act.
● In the case of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, the court held
that online intermediaries would only be obligated to take down
content on receiving an order from the courts or government
authority.

4. Section 66C: This provision prohibits the use of electronic signatures,

passwords, and any other feature which is a unique identification of a
person. Phishers disguise and portray themselves as the true owners of the
accounts and perform fraudulent acts.

5. Section 66D: The provision provides punishment for cheating by

personating using communication devices or computer sources. Fraudsters
use URLs that contain the link for a fake website of banks and organisations
and personate themselves as the bank or the financial institution.

6. Section 81: This provision consists of a non-obstante clause i.e., the

provisions under this act shall affect notwithstanding anything inconsistent,
and also contained in any other act for the time being in force.

The obstante clause overrides the effect of the provisions of the IT Act over the
other acts such as the Indian Penal Code. All the provisions of the IT Act, 2000
which are relevant to the phishing scams are however made bailable under Section
77B of the IT Act (Amendments 2008). This obviously because of the uncertainty as
to who the real criminal is. There is always a translucent screen in front of the
phisher which hides their identity and there may be cases wherein the wrong
person convicted for a crime that they have never committed, hence the reason for
the offense to be made bailable. Furthermore, as per the Indian Penal Code,
Phishing can also be held liable under Cheating (Section 415), Mischief (Section
425), Forgery (Section 464), and Abetment (Section 107).

Human Rights in Cyberspace:

Human rights in cyberspace is a relatively new and uncharted area of law. The United
Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has stated that the freedoms of expression
and information under Article 19(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR) include the freedom to receive and communicate information,
ideas and opinions through the Internet.[1]

An important clause is Article 19(3) of the ICCPR, which provides that:

The exercise of the right provided in paragraph two of this article carries with it special
duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subjected to certain restrictions, but
these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:

(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;

(b) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and
morals.[1]

The HRC has stated that "the same rights that people have offline must also be
protected online" (mentioning, in particular, freedom of expression).[2] It is widely
regarded that this freedom of information must be balanced with other rights. The
question is raised whether people's expectations of human rights are different in
cyberspace
Public Privacy (Human Rights in Cyber Space):

Public privacy encompasses freedom of information and expression on the Internet on

the one side, and security and privacy in cyberspace on the other side.[4]: 3  In the context
of cyberspace, privacy means using the Internet as a service tool for private purposes
without the fear of third parties accessing and using user data in various ways without
their consent.

The right to freedom encompasses the right of expression and is stated in several
international treaties. The right includes freedom to receive and impart information and
ideas and to hold opinions without any state interference. It also includes the right to
express oneself in any medium including exchanging ideas and thoughts through
Internet platforms or social networks.  Freedom means the right to political expression
especially when it raises matters of public importance.

Most democratic countries advance the installation of the Internet for economic and
communication purposes; therefore, political expression is given some protection on the
Internet. Some governments actively move to protect citizen's data on the Internet.
However, these intergovernmental agreements can lead to misuse and abuse of private
data, which in turn can affect many other fundamental freedoms and basic human
rights. The challenge for governments is balancing private interests with rules against
privacy and freedom rights for all.

Discriminatory Behaviour:

Cyber bullying

Discriminatory behaviors that occur ‘offline’ also occur ‘online’ One of these behaviors is
‘cyber bullying’. Cyberbullying affects at least one in ten students in Australia.
Cyberbullying can impact on a range of human rights including: the right to the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health; rights to work and fair working
conditions; the right to freedom of expression and to hold opinions without interference;
a child or young person's right to leisure and play.
Cyber-racism

Cyber racism can be in the form of individuals posting racist comments or participating
in group pages specifically set up for a racist purpose. A well publicised example of this
was an Aboriginal memes Facebook page that consisted of various images of
indigenous people with racist captions. It was reported that Facebook classified the
page as ‘controversial humour’.

Hate speech

Article 20 of the ICCPR states “Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that
constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
Hate speech is intended to disturb violence or prejudicial actions against a group of
people based on their ethnicity, race, nationality or sexual orientation. Cyberspace has
also been used in this way as a medium for destruction.

The danger to human rights becomes apparent when terrorists form together to scheme
and agitate people to commit violence towards a common good. “Al-Qaeda” moved to
cyberspace, “the ultimate ungoverned territory” where schools were set up for
promotion of ideological and military training and active propaganda arms. It has
become a stated subject of importance that these situations are monitored to prepare
for future generations of cyber-terrorists.

Recent Developments:

On May 22, 2020, the UN Security Council in its discussion on Cybersecurity

highlighted the need to recognize cyberattacks as one of the human rights issues. The
course of action detailed that moves such as Internet shutdowns by the government and
hacking into devices of dissidents, can lead to serious violation of human rights. The
idea was acknowledged by at least a dozen countries including Estonia, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Ecuador, Japan, Switzerland, and others.
 Unit-4
Indian Evidence Act

Experts

● In Indian Evidence Act,1872, there is no proper or exact definition of term

Expert.

● An expert is one who has made the subject upon which he speaks a matter

of study, practice or observation and he must have a special knowledge of

the subject.

● It simply means an expert is a person who has special knowledge and skill

in any particular subject to which inquiry relates.

Expert Opinion

● Section 45 clearly deals with the opinion of persons who are called experts.

● There are matters mentioned in the section in which help is required from

witnesses having experiences and skill and the opinion given by such witness is

expert opinion.

Section 45: Opinions of experts:

● When the Court has to form an opinion upon a point of foreign law or of science

or art, or as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions, the opinions upon

that point of persons specially skilled in such foreign law, science or art, or in

questions as to identity of handwriting or finger impressions are relevant facts.

Court will form opinion on the matters-

1. Foreign law

2. Science

3. Art

4. Handwriting

5. Finger Print or impression

Section 46: Facts bearing upon opinion of experts

● Facts not otherwise relevant are relevant if they support or are inconsistent with

the opinions of experts, when such opinions are relevant.

Section 51: Grounds of opinion, when relevant

● Whenever the opinion of any living person is relevant, the grounds on which such

opinion is based are also relevant. Illustration An expert may give an account of

experiments performed by him for the purpose of forming his opinion.

45. Opinions of experts. –– When the Court has to form an opinion upon a point of
foreign law or of science, or art, or as to identity of handwriting, 2[or finger impressions],
the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in such foreign law, science or
art, 3[or in questions as to identity of handwriting] 2[or finger impressions] are relevant
facts.

Such persons are called experts.

[45A. Opinion of Examiner of Electronic Evidence.— When in a proceeding, the

court has to form an opinion on any matter relating to any information transmitted or
stored in any computer resource or any other electronic or digital form, the opinion of
the Examiner of Electronic Evidence referred to in section 79A of the Information
Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000), is a relevant fact.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, an Examiner of Electronic Evidence

shall be an expert.]

46. Facts bearing upon opinions of experts. –– Facts, not otherwise relevant, are
relevant if they support or are inconsistent with the opinions of experts, when such
opinions are relevant.

47. Opinion as to hand-writing, when relevant. –– When the Court has to form an
opinion as to the person by whom any document was written or signed, the opinion of
any person acquainted with the handwriting of the person by whom it is supposed to be
written or signed that it was or was not written or signed by that person, is a relevant
fact.

Explanation. ––A person is said to be acquainted with the handwriting of another person
when he has seen that person write, or when he has received documents purporting to
be written by that person in answer to documents written by himself or under his
authority and addressed to that person, or when, in the ordinary course of business,
documents purporting to be written by that person have been habitually submitted to
him.

1[47A. Opinion as to digital signature, when relevant. –– When the Court has to
form an opinion as to the 2[electronic signature] of any person, the opinion of the
Certifying Authority which has issued the 3[electronic Signature Certificate] is a relevant
fact.]

57. Facts of which Court must take judicial notice. –– The Court shall take judicial
notice of the following facts: ––
4[(1) All laws in force in the territory of India;]

(2) All public Acts passed or hereafter to be passed by Parliament 1[of the United
Kingdom], and all local and personal Acts directed by Parliament 1[of the United
Kingdom] to be judicially noticed;

(3) Articles of War for 2[the Indian] Army 3[Navy or Air Force];

4[(4) The course of proceeding of Parliament of the United Kingdom, of the Constituent
Assembly of India, of Parliament and of the legislatures established under any laws for
the time being in force in a Province or in the States;]

(5) The accession and the sign manual of the Sovereign for the time being of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;

(6) All seals of which English Courts take judicial notice: the seals of all the 5[Courts in
6[India]] and of all Courts out of 6[India] established by the authority of 7[the Central
Government or the Crown Representative]; the seals of Courts of Admiralty and
Maritime Jurisdiction and of Notaries Public, and all seals which any person is
authorized to use by 8[the Constitution or an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom or
an] Act or Regulation having the force of law in 6[India];

(7) The accession to office, names, titles, functions, and signatures of the persons filling
for the time being any public office in any State, if the fact of their appointment to such
office is notified in 9[any Official Gazette];

(8) The existence, title and national flag of every State or Sovereign recognized by
10[the Government of India];

(9) The divisions of time, the geographical divisions of the world, and public festivals,
fasts and holidays notified in the Official Gazette;

(10) The territories under the dominion of 10[the Government of India];

(11) The commencement, continuance and termination of hostilities between 10[the

Government

of India] and any other State or body of persons;

(12) The names of the members and officers of the Court, and of their deputies and
subordinate offices and assistants, and also of all officers acting in execution of its
process, and of all advocates, attorneys, proctors, vakils, pleaders and other persons
authorized by law to appear or act before it;
(13) The rule of the road 11[on land or at sea].

In all these cases, and also on all matters of public history, literature, science or art, the
Court may resort for its aid to appropriate books or documents of reference.

If the Court is called upon by any person to take judicial notice of any fact, it may refuse
to do so unless and until such person produces any such book or document as it may
consider necessary to enable it to do so.

58. Facts admitted need not be proved. –– No fact need be proved in any proceeding
which the parties thereto or their agents agree to admit at the hearing, or which, before
the hearing, they agree to admit by any writing under their hands, or which by any rule
of pleading in force at the time they are deemed to have admitted by their pleadings:

Provided that the Court may, in its discretion, require the facts admitted to be proved
otherwise than by such admissions.

60. Oral evidence must be direct. –– Oral evidence must, in all cases, whatever, be
direct; that is to say ––

if it refers to a fact which could be seen, it must be the evidence of a witness who says
he saw it;

if it refers to a fact which could be heard, it must be the evidence of a witness who says
he heard it;

if it refers to a fact which could be perceived by any other sense or in any other manner,
it must be the evidence of a witness who says he perceived it by that sense or in that
manner;

if it refers to an opinion or to the grounds on which that opinion is held, it must be the
evidence of the person who holds that opinion on those grounds:

Provided that the opinions of experts expressed in any treatise commonly offered for
sale, and the grounds on which such opinions are held, may be proved by the
production of such treatises if the author is dead or cannot be found; or has become
incapable of giving evidence, or cannot be called as a witness without an amount of
delay or expense which the Court regards as unreasonable:
Provided also that, if oral evidence refers to the existence or condition of any material
thing other than a document, the Court may, if it thinks fit, require the production of such
material thing for its inspection.

73. Comparison of signature, writing or seal with others admitted or proved. –– In

order to ascertain whether a signature, writing or seal is that of the person by whom it
purports to have been written or made, any signature, writing or seal admitted or proved
to the satisfaction of the Court to have been written or made by that person may be
compared with the one which is to be proved, although that signature, writing or seal
has not been produced or proved for any other purpose.

The Court may direct any person present in Court to write any words or figures for the
purpose of enabling the Court to compare the words or figures so written with any words
or figures alleged to have been written by such person.

1[This section applies also, with any necessary modifications, to finger impressions.]

135. Order of production and examination of witnesses. –– The order in which

witnesses are produced and examined shall be regulated by the law and practice for the
time being relating to civil and criminal procedure respectively, and, in the absence of
any such law, by the discretion of the Court.

136. Judge to decide as to admissibility of evidence. ––When either party proposes

to give evidence of any fact, the Judge may ask the party proposing to give the
evidence in what manner the alleged fact, if proved, would be relevant; and the Judge
shall admit the evidence if he thinks that the fact, if proved, would be relevant, and not
otherwise.

If the fact proposed to be proved is one of which evidence is admissible only upon proof
of some other fact, such last-mentioned fact must be proved before evidence is given of
the fact first-mentioned, unless the party undertakes to give proof of such fact, and the
Court is satisfied with such undertaking.

If the relevancy of one alleged fact depends upon another alleged fact being first
proved, the Judge may, in his discretion, either permit evidence of the first fact to be
given before the second fact is proved, or require evidence to be given of the second
fact before evidence is given of the first fact.
137. Examination-in-chief. –– The examination of witness by the party who calls him
shall be called his examination-in-chief.

Cross-examination. –– The examination of a witness by the adverse party shall be

called his cross-examination.

Re-examination. ––The examination of a witness, subsequent to the cross-examination

by the party who called him, shall be called his re-examination.

138. Order of examinations. –– Witnesses shall be first examined-in-chief, then (if the
adverse party so desires) cross-examined, then (if the party calling him so desires)
re-examined.

The examination and cross-examination must relate to relevant facts but the
cross-examination need not be confined to the facts to which the witness testified on his
examination-in-chief.

Direction of re-examination. –– The re-examination shall be directed to the

explanation of matters referred to in cross-examination; and, if new matter is, by
permission of the Court, introduced in re-examination, the adverse party may further
cross-examine upon that matter.

141. Leading questions. –– Any question suggesting the answer which the person
putting it wishes or expects to receive is called a leading question.

Section 293 in The Code Of Criminal Procedure, 1973

293. Reports of certain Government scientific experts.

(1) Any document purporting to be a report under the hand of a Government scientific expert to
whom this section applies, upon any matter or thing duly submitted to him for examination or
analysis and report in the course of any proceeding under this Code, may be used as evidence
in any inquiry, trial or other proceeding under this Code.
(2) The Court may, if it thinks fit, summon and examine any such expert as to the subject-
matter of his report.
(3) Where any such expert is summoned by a Court and he is unable to attend personally, he
may, unless the Court has expressly directed him to appear personally, depute any responsible
 officer working with him to attend the Court, if such officer is conversant with the facts of the
case and can satisfactorily depose in Court on his behalf.

(4) This section applies to the following Government scientific experts, namely:-
(a) any Chemical Examiner or Assistant Chemical Examiner to Government;
(b) the Chief Inspector of- Explosives;
(c) the Director of the Finger Print Bureau;
(d) the Director, Haffkeine Institute, Bombay;
(e) the Director 1 , Deputy Director or Assistant Director] of a Central Forensic
Science Laboratory or a State Forensic Science Laboratory;
(f) the Serologist to the Government.

Secondary Evidence

65. Cases in which secondary evidence relating to documents may be given.—Secondary

evidence may be given of the existence, condition, or contents of a document in the
following cases:—
(a) When the original is shown or appears to be in the possession or power— of the person
against whom the document is sought to be proved, or of any person out of reach of, or not
subject to, the process of the Court, or of any person legally bound to produce it, and when,
after the notice mentioned in section 66, such person does not produce it;
(b) when the existence, condition or contents of the original have been proved to be admitted in
writing by the person against whom it is proved or by his representative in interest;
(c) when the original has been destroyed or lost, or when the party offering evidence of its
contents cannot, for any other reason not arising from his own default or neglect, produce it in
reasonable time;
(d) when the original is of such a nature as not to be easily movable;
(e) when the original is a public document within the meaning of section 74;
(f) when the original is a document of which a certified copy is permitted by this Act, or by any
other law in force in 1[India] to be given in evidence2; 1[India] to be given in evidence2;"
(g) when the originals consists of numerous accounts or other documents which cannot
conveniently be examined in Court, and the fact to be proved is the general result of the whole
collection. In cases (a), (c) and (d), any secondary evidence of the contents of the document is
admissible. In case (b), the written admission is admissible. In case (e) or (f), a certified copy
of the document, but no other kind of secondary evidence, is admissible. In case (g), evidence
may be given as to the general result of the documents by any person who has examined them,
and who is skilled in the examination of such documents.
[65B. Admissibility of electronic records.—
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, any information contained in an electronic
record which is printed on a paper, stored, recorded or copied in optical or magnetic media
produced by a computer (hereinafter referred to as the computer output) shall be deemed to be
also a document, if the conditions mentioned in this section are satisfied in relation to the
information and computer in question and shall be admissible in any proceedings, without
further proof or production of the original, as evidence of any contents of the original or of any
fact stated therein of which direct evidence would be admissible.
(2) The conditions referred to in sub-section (1) in respect of a computer output shall be the
following, namely:—
(a) the computer output containing the information was produced by the computer during
the period over which the computer was used regularly to store or process information for
the purposes of any activities regularly carried on over that period by the person having
lawful control over the use of the computer;
(b) during the said period, information of the kind contained in the electronic record or of
the kind from which the information so contained is derived was regularly fed into the
computer in the ordinary course of the said activities;
(c) throughout the material part of the said period, the computer was operating properly or,
if not, then in respect of any period in which it was not operating properly or was out of
operation during that part of the period, was not such as to affect the electronic record or the
accuracy of its contents; and
(d) the information contained in the electronic record reproduces or is derived from such
information fed into the computer in the ordinary course of the said activities.
(3) Where over any period, the function of storing or processing information for the purposes
of any activities regularly carried on over that period as mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section
(2) was regularly performed by computers, whether—
(a) by a combination of computers operating over that period; or
(b) by different computers operating in succession over that period; or
(c) by different combinations of computers operating in succession over that period; or
(d) in any other manner involving the successive operation over that period, in whatever
order, of one or more computers and one or more combinations of computers, all the
computers used for that purpose during that period shall be treated for the purposes of this
section as constituting a single computer; and references in this section to a computer shall
be construed accordingly.
(4) In any proceedings where it is desired to give a statement in evidence by virtue of this
section, a certificate doing any of the following things, that is to say,—
(a) identifying the electronic record containing the statement and describing the manner in
which it was produced;
 (b) giving such particulars of any device involved in the production of that electronic record
as may be appropriate for the purpose of showing that the electronic record was produced
by a computer;
(c) dealing with any of the matters to which the conditions mentioned in sub-section (2)
relate, and purporting to be signed by a person occupying a responsible official position in
relation to the operation of the relevant device or the management of the relevant activities
(whichever is appropriate) shall be evidence of any matter stated in the certificate; and for
the purposes of this sub-section it shall be sufficient for a matter to be stated to the best of
the knowledge and belief of the person stating it.
(5) For the purposes of this section,—
(a) infomation shall be taken to be supplied to a computer if it is supplied thereto in any
appropriate form and whether it is so supplied directly or (with or without human
intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment;
(b) whether in the course of activities carried on by any official information is supplied with
a view to its being stored or processed for the purposes of those activities by a computer
operated otherwise than in the course of those activities, that information, if duly supplied to
that computer, shall be taken to be supplied to it in the course of those activities;
(c) a computer output shall be taken to have been produced by a computer whether it was
produced by it directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate
equipment. Explanation.—For the purposes of this section any reference to information
being derived from other information shall be a reference to its being derived therefrom by
calculation, comparison or any other process.]
 Cyber Laws
Unit-4
Indian Evidence Act, 1872 act passed by the British Parliament in 1872
the rules of evidence admissible in Indian courts and
that set forth
had far-reaching consequences.

In its original sense, the word "evidence" refers to the state of

being evident, i.e. plain, obvious, or well-known. Evidence acts as

the eyes and ears of the court.

CivilLaw Property, Debt etc

Liable/ Not Liable

Compensation

Criminal Law: Serious crimes

Guilty/ Not Guilty

Imprisonment

The Major Differences between Civil Law and Criminal Law are:

Civil Law Criminal Law

Criminal Law deals with offences

Civil Law is a general law which
solves disputes between 2 that are committed against the
organisations or individuals. As society. It mets out varying
Law the wrongdoer will degrees of punishment
per Civil
have to compensate the affected commensurate with the crime
committed. Criminal Law will deal
organisation or individual. Civil
Law deals with Property, Money, with serious crimes such as
Housing, Divorce, custody of a murder, rapes, arson, robbery,.
the event of divorce etc. assault etc.
child in
Civil Law is initiated by the The Government files the
aggrieved individual or petition in case of criminal law.
organisation or also known as
'plaintiff.
to start a
In case of Civil Law, to start a As per Criminal Law, filed
a petition cannot be
case, the aggrieved party needs case,
in a court, rather the
to file a case in the Court or directly
Tribunal complaint should be first
the police, and
registered with
the crime needs to be investigated case
by the Police. Thereafter a
can be filed in the court.

The objective of Civil Law is to The purpose of Criminal Law is to

protect the rights of an
individual or organisation and
make sure that he or the
Concerned organisation receives
punish the wrongdoers and
protect society, maintain law and
order.

| the compensation for the wrongs

that they have suffered.
| In Civil Law, the wrongdoer gets In Criminal Law, the accused
Sued by the complainant
or the person will be prosecuted in the
Court of law.
aggrieved party.
Law,
In the case of Civil Law, there is In the case of Criminal
punishment is meted out as per
no punishment like OCriminal Law,
but the aggrieved party receives the seriousness of the criminal
offence committed or a fine could
the compensation and the dispute
gets settled. be imposed.
In the case of Civil Law, the power |In the case of Criminal Law, the
court are charging a
of the court is to pass judgement powers of the
or injunction to compensate for fine, imprisonment to the guilty of
of the
damages caused to the aggrieved a crime, or discharge
party. defendant
In Civil Law cases, the defendant In Criminal Law parlance, the
is considered to be either liable defendant is considered either
or not liable. guilty or not guilty by the court.
Hierarchy of courts:

Hierarchy of Courts for Civil Matters

Supreme

Court

High Courts

District and Session Courts

Court ofCivil Judge (Senior
Division)
Civil Judge Junior Division)

Munsi's Courts and Small Causes Courts

Where you can approachLfile case:

After district
Civil Cases: Starts from district court (Civil Court).
and then to supreme court
court, it may move to state high court,
of lower courts).
(if any party challenge order/judgement

Fundamental rightss &

Public Interest Litigation: Directly
approach to High Court (under Article 226), Supreme Court (under
Article 32).

in cases of fundamental
High courts have wider scope & power
rights than to supreme court. Article-21 (Right to life)-expended
scope for protection of
of courts over time due to judicial activism,
people's rights.

Criminat cases: starts from the district court (criminal court).

After district court, it may move to state high court, and then to
supreme court (if any party challenge order/judgement of lower
courts).

Code of Criminal Procedure (India):

Code
The Code of Criminal Procedure commonly called Criminal Procedure
(CrPC) s the main legislation on_procedure for administration_of SubstantiYE
in and into force on 1 April 1974.
criminal law in IndialIt enacted
was 1973
came

12 It providesthe machinery for the investigation of crime, apprehension of suspected

innocence of the accused
criminals, collection of evidence, determination of guilt orIt also deals with pubiic
person and the determination of punishment of the guilty.
and parents.
nuisance, prevention of offences and maintenance of wife, child

Classification of offences under the Code

Cognizable and non-cognizable offences

Cognizable offences are those offences for which a police officer may
court-mandated warrant in accordance with the first
arrest without a
schedule of the code. They are serious in nature. Exammple- Murder, Rape,
Dowry Death, Kidnapping. Theft, Criminal Breach of Trust, Unnatural
Offences.

Non-cognizable cases the police officer may arrest only after being duly
authorized by a warrant. Non-cognizable offences are, generally, relatively
less serious offences than cognizable ones. Cognizable offences reported
under section 154 Cr.P.C while non-cognizable offences reported under
section 155 C.P.C. For non-cognizable offences the Magistrate empowered
to take cognizance under section 190 Cr.PC. Under section 156(3) Cr.PC the
Magistrate is competent to direct the police to register the case, investigate
the same and submit the challan/report for cancellation. (2003 P.Cr.LJ. 1282).
 Baliable and Non-Bailable Offences
Non-
Bailable offences are considered less serious in nature. Whereas,
in nature.
Bailable offences are considered more serious / heinous

Baiiable offences are those offences or crimes that are not very serious
be
in nature. in such cases bail is a right
and the arrested person must
have the power
released after depositing the bail with the police. The police
for bail.
to grant bail in these types of cases. eligible

and
Non-bailable offences serious offences where bail is a privilege
are
arrested and taken into custody for a
only the cOurts can grantit. aOn beingcannot ask to be released on bail as a
serious or non-bailable rime, person
matter of right.

What is a zero FIR?

Unlike an FIR, which is restricted by jurisdiction, a zero FIR can be filed inn
the offencewas committed under
any police station, regardless of whether station. Whereas FiRs have seriai
the jurisdiction of that particuliar police
FIRs
are assigned the number 'O'. Hence the
numbers assigned to them, zero

name.