Cyber Delinquency in India

INTRODUCTION

What is Cyber Crime?

Cybercrime, or computer crime, is a crime that involves a computer and networks. Cybercrime 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 and mobile.[1]

With rapid technological developments, our life is becoming more digitalized. Be it business, education, shopping, or banking transactions everything is on cyberspace. There are some threats posed by this incredible rise in digitization which is creating a new set of global concerns called cybercrime. It is easy to fall prey to such an unethical way of hacking and penetrating into personal life which is feasible at a click of a button. Cybercrimes thereby take place in many forms like illegal access and theft of data, intrusion into devices, and fraud which is a big concern amongst all the users.

CYBER DELINQUENCY IN INDIA

Cybercrimes have been increasing in numbers year by year. In the same way, cyber delinquency has also been increasing day by day. If we focus on the data as published by the national crime record bureau there is an increasing pattern in cyber delinquency. The reason behind this is many folds but the issue is still unresolved. Internet exposure is increasing day by day and it increases the vulnerability of our kids. Recently new forms of cybercrimes have been committed by a juvenile in India.

Cyber Laws in India

Cybercrimes are a new class of crimes that are increasing day by day due to the extensive use of the internet these days. To combat the crimes related to internet The Information Technology Act, 2000 was enacted with the prime objective to create an enabling environment for commercial use of I.T.

The IT Act specifies the acts which have been made punishable.

The Indian Penal Code, 1860 has also been amended to take into its purview cyber crimes.

The various offenses related to the internet which have been made punishable under the IT Act and the IPC are enumerated below:

1. Cybercrimes under the IT Act [2]:

• Tampering with computer source documents
• Hacking with Computer systems, Data alteration - Sec.66
• Publishing obscene information - Sec.67
• Unauthorized access to protected system Sec.70
• Breach of Confidentiality and Privacy - Sec.72
• Publishing false digital signature certificates - Sec.73
• Cyber Crimes under IPC and Special Laws [3]:
• Sending threatening messages by email - Sec 503 IPC
• Sending defamatory messages by email - Sec 499 IPC
• Forgery of electronic records - Sec 463 IPC
• Bogus websites, cyber frauds - Sec 420 IPC
• Email spoofing - Sec 463 IPC
• Web-Jacking - Sec. 383 IPC
• E-Mail Abuse - Sec.500 IPC

CONFLICT BETWEEN THE IPC AND THE IT ACT: CASE LAW

The overlap between the provisions of the IPC and the IT Act may sometimes lead to an anomalous situation wherein certain offenses are bailable under the IPC and not under the IT Act and vice versa and certain offenses are compoundable under the IPC and not under the IT Act and vice versa. For instance, in case of hacking and data theft, offenses under sections 43 and 66 of the IT Act that is bailable and compoundable while offenses under section 378 of the IPC are non-bailable and compoundable.

In the case of Sharat Babu Digumarti v. Government of NCT of Delhi[4], the conflict between provisions of the IPC and the IT Act came to the fore. In this case, on November 27, 2004, an obscene video had been listed for sale on baazee.com ("Bazee"). The listing was intentionally made under the category 'Books and Magazines' and sub-category 'ebooks' in order to avoid its detection by the filters installed by Brazee. A few copies were sold before the listing was deactivated. Later Delhi police's crime branch charge-sheeted Avinash Bajaj, Bazee's managing director, and Sharat Digumarti, Bazee's manager. The company Bazee was not arraigned as an accused and this helped Avinash Bajaj get off the hook since it was held that, vicarious liability could not be fastened on Avinash Bajaj under either section 292 of the IPC or section 67 of the IT Act when Avinash's employer Bazee itself was not an accused. Later changes under section 67 of the IT Act and section 294 of IPC against Sharat Digumarti were also dropped, but the charges under section 292 of the IPC were retained. The Supreme Court then considered if, after the charges under section 67 of the IT Act was dropped, a charge under section 292 of the IPC could be sustained. The Supreme Court quashed the proceedings against Sarat Digumarti and ruled that if an offense involves an electronic record, the IT Act alone would apply since such was the legislative intent. It is a settled principle of interpretation that special laws would prevail over general laws and latter laws would prevail over prior legislation. Further, section 81 of the IT Act states that the provisions of the IT Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force.

CONCLUSION

While concluding this article, we can say that there can be numerous factors that can lead to cyber delinquency sometimes knowingly and sometimes unknowingly. But the most worrying factor is that young people get easily involved in this world as they may see it is risk-free. Community, parents are the most important primary group which can either led to cyber delinquency or stop them from doing the same.

Kunjan Mehta is a third-year law student at GLS Law College, Ahemdabad.

Disclaimer: The article is an original submission of the Author. Niti Manthan does not hold any liability arising out of this article. Kindly refer to our terms of use or write to us in case of any concerns.

[1] International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT) ISSN: 2249 – 8958, Volume-8 Issue-5C, May 2019 India.

[2] The Information Technology Act, 2000

[3] The Indian Penal Code, 1860

[4] Sharat Babu Digumarti vs Govt Of Nct Of Delhi on 14 December, 2016 /SC/1592/2016