AUTHOR: JEMI SHIPHRA. I, SASTRA DEEMED UNIVERSITY, THANJAVUR.
ABSTRACT
Since the development of the internet and technology, cybercrimes keep increasing. With new technological developments happening, everyday there is something new to add to the crime list. New laws were required to deal with this widespread problem. The purpose of this article is to examine cybercrime in India and the legal frameworks governing it to keep such crimes under control. This article covers a short introduction about cybercrime, provisions of the Indian Laws that deal with cybercrimes and some cases that set the precedent for cybercrimes in India.
KEYWORDS: Cyber-crime, Hacking, Online / Electronic means, Provisions and punishments, IT Act, IPC.
INTRODUCTION
Cybercrime has become widespread ever since the super-fast development of the internet and technology. With banking and finance going online with the introduction and efficiency of the internet, scams and other cybercrimes started to thrive. Crimes like cyber stalking, cyber bullying, hacking, identity theft, piracy, phishing, scams, fraud, etc., started to increase in numbers. As the earlier laws did not have any provisions to deal with these kinds of crimes. Hence the judiciary had to introduce new laws based on the different kinds of crimes that were being committed in the society.
These crimes often steal information from individuals or cause harm to individuals, institutions, or organizations and even the government. This was a wake-up call for the Lawmakers to legislate new laws and provisions to take action against such crimes and to prevent the commission of the same. In India, cybercrimes, fraudulent acts, and scams are dealt under the following provisions:
Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 (Amended in 2008)
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 [Replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023]
The Companies Act, 2013
The Copyright Act, 1957
The Indian Contract Act, 1872 (Although it is not explicitly stated in the act, Section 17 of this act talks about the principles of fraud which can be applied to cyber fraud and fraudulent activities done online.)
IT ACT,2000
1. Hacking (Section 66):
This provision deals with computer related offences such as Hacking, that is, unauthorized access to computer systems, theft of data, damage to computer systems, service disruption and other such acts prohibited under section 43 of the same act.
Punishment: Imprisonment for up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to rupees five lakhs.
2. Identity theft (Section 66C):
This section deals with the act of Identity theft which includes, stealing personal and important information (like passwords, usernames, or signature) of someone and putting it to unauthorized use.
The punishment given under IT Act 2000 for this offence is imprisonment for up to 3 years and/or a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees
3. Punishment for Violation of Privacy (Section 66E):
This section deals with the act of violating someone’s privacy by capturing, publishing, or transmission of images of a private area of that person without their consent.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act 2000 is imprisonment for up to 3 years, a fine of up to 2 lakh rupees or both.
4. Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource (Section 66D):
This section deals with the offence of cheating by personation through computer resources, that is, committing an online fraud or phishing. This offence is similar to Identity theft where the offender deceives a person by pretending to be someone else using a device used for communication purpose or by using a computer resource.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act 2000 is imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees.
5. Cyber terrorism (Section 66F):
Section 66F of IT Act 2000 deals with the offence of cyber terrorism which threatens the country’s security, unity, or integrity or to cause terror among people. The act of cyber terrorism involves denying access of computer resources to authorized users, unauthorized access to computer resources, introducing viruses or malwares to destroy/harm government databases and hacking into government systems to steal sensitive and important data.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act 2000 is imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment of life.
6. Punishment for publishing and transmitting obscene material in electronic form (Section 67):
This section provides the punishment for the offence of publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act 2000 is imprisonment for up to 3 years and a fine of up to 5 lakh rupees upon first conviction and imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees on second or subsequent conviction.
7. Punishment for publishing and transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form (Section 67A and Section 67B):
Section 67A deals with and provides the punishment for the offence of publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit acts in electronic forms.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act 2000 is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees on first conviction and imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees on second or subsequent conviction.
Section 67B deals with and provides the punishment for the offence of publishing and transmitting any material depicting “children” in a sexually explicit act in electronic form.
The punishment given for this offence under the IT Act is imprisonment for up to 5 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees on first conviction and imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees on second or subsequent conviction.
8. Data theft (Section 43 and Section 72):
Section 43 of IT Act deals with and provides the penalty and compensation for causing damage to computer and computer systems. This section also talks about stealing information from computer resources. The offender is liable to pay compensation for the damage caused.
Section 72 of IT Act deals with and provides the penalty for the offence of breach of confidentiality and privacy. The section also punishes those exercising power under this act, for disclosing any electronic record or information obtained without the consent of the person concerned.
The punishment given for these offences under the IT Act is imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine of up to 1 lakh rupees or both.
Earlier, Section 66A dealt with and provided the punishment for the act of sending offensive messages through communication services but it was declared unconstitutional and was struck down by the Supreme court in 2015 for being vague and for infringing the right of freedom of speech and expression. This decision was made in the case of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, 2015.
INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860
1.Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property (Section 420):
This section deals with and provides the punishment for the offence of cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of some property. This section is also used in the context of covering online scams and frauds.
The punishment for this offence under IPC is imprisonment for up to 7 years and a fine.
2.Defamation:
Section 499 explains about the offence of defamation and Section 500 of IPC,1860 gives us the punishments for defamation. This provision can be used to cover defamatory actions happening online.
Punishment: Simple imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine, or both.
3.Criminal Intimidation (Section 503, 506):
Section 503 deals with the offence of threatening someone with harm or to cause injury while section 506 provides the punishment for the same. This provision is used in case of threatening someone by electronic means or any kind of cyber-criminal intimidation.
Punishment: Imprisonment for up to 2 years, a fine, or both.
If the threat involves serious harm (like death or grievous hurt) then the punishment can go up to 7 years of imprisonment, a fine, or both.
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which replaced IPC does not have any specific provisions for hacking but it can be covered under the provisions of theft or fraud. Section 318 of BNS deals with cheating which includes Identity theft.
CASE LAWS
The Sony India Pvt. Ltd vs. Harmeet Singh & Anr [2012 (51) PTC 419(Del)]:
This case revolves around the hacking of Sony India. Sony India, the plaintiff filed a complaint against Harmeet Singh and another for hacking into their website and for using their platform for defamatory purposes. The defendants were accused of hacking into Sony India’s website and for altering the contents so as to cause harm to the company’s reputation. They were also accused of sending defamatory emails to the associates of the company’s business. The Delhi High Court ruled and stated that cyber defamation and hacking are punishable offences under The IT Act 2000. This case further sets an example for companies to take precautionary steps to protect their online resources.
State of Tamil Nadu vs. Suhas Katti (CC No. 4680 of 2004):
In this case, the accused, Suhas Katti was found to be guilty of the offence of sending obscene and defamatory messages to a woman through social media after she rejected his marriage proposal. Katti was then charged under a few sections of the IPC and under Section 67 of the IT Act. Then he was sentenced to imprisonment and fine according to the provisions under which he was charged. This case has set a precedent for offences like online harassment and it highlighted the importance of having laws addressing online abuse and for the protection of individuals.
SMC Pneumatics (India) Pvt. Ltd. vs. Jogesh Kwatra [CS(OS) No. 1279/2001 (Delhi High Court,2001)]:
Here in this case, the defendant was an employee of the plaintiff company, that is, SMC Pneumatics. He allegedly started sending derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, filthy, and abusive emails to his employers and also to different subsidiaries of the same company all over the world with the aim to defame the company and its managing director. The Delhi High Court passed an ex-parte ad interim injunction and also restrained the defendant from sending such derogatory, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, humiliating and abusive emails either to the plaintiffs or to its subsidiaries. The judiciary ensured that this kind of cyber defamation should be kept under control and appropriate measures were taken.
Avnish Bajaj vs. State [(2008) 150 DLT 769]:
Here in this case, the CEO of an E-Commerce portal was arrested under section 67 of the IT Act on account of an obscene video uploaded on the Bazee website for sale. Charges were filed against Ravi Raj the seller, Avnish Bajaj and a few others of the portal. The inappropriate content somehow managed to get past the website’s security filter measures. Even though the item was taken down, the petitioner was still held liable for not having taken proper measures from preventing the website from using unauthorized content.
CONCLUSION
With the development of the internet and technology, communication and connection became much easier and faster. It still gets upgraded every single day and so do the crimes and offences that are being done online. This article discusses the fast-evolving cyber-crimes in India and the necessity of adopting new legal frameworks to tackle this problem effectively. The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2002 (Amended in 2008) is the primary and most widely used legal framework in cases of cyber crimes in India. This legislation covers various crimes like hacking, identity theft, cyber terrorism, and the publication of obscene material. The IT Act puts specific focus on crimes committed through electronic means. Another major legislation which deals with cyber crimes after the IT Act is the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 (Replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,2023), IPC provides provisions for cyber offences like cheating, defamation, and criminal intimidation. The cases mentioned show how the judiciary plays an important role in interpreting and applying the provisions to various cyber offences. These cases clarify the scope of the legal provisions and it also sets a precedent for other such cases. All of this encourages us to take proper safety precautions to safeguard from cybercrimes. Technological development keeps happening and cyber crimes will only increase in the future. The legal frameworks will also have to keep improving with time. With proper public awareness regarding these issues, safety can be ensured when joined with the provisions that the legal system of India has introduced.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Understanding Cyber Crime Laws in India, letshirealawyer.com (Aug. 10, 2025), https://letshirealawyer.com/cyber-laws-india.
Indian Penal Code, No. 45 of 1860, §§ 420, 499, 503, 506, Acts of Parliament, 1860 (India).
Information Technology Act, No. 21 of 2000, §§ 43, 66, 72, Acts of Parliament, 2000 (India).
