High Court Seeks Delhi Police's Stand On PIL Alleging Non-Invocation Of IT Act In Cyber Crime Cases

The Delhi High Court has asked Delhi Police to respond to a public interest litigation which alleges that its officials fail to invoke provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 while registering cases related to cyber crimes.

A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was hearing a PIL moved by Ananya Kumar, a Ph.D. scholar doing research on crimes against women in cyber space.

While the court did not issue formal notice in the plea, it asked the Delhi Police to place its stand on an affidavit and listed the matter for hearing on May 15.

The plea has made Union of India through Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi Government’s department of Information Technology as respondents in the case.

It seeks direction on Commissioner of Delhi Police to issue a mandatory standing order or guideline to be followed in all police stations for invoking of provisions of IT Act on receiving complaints for lodging FIRs relating to cyber crimes. 

As per the plea, the provisions have to be invoked in compliance of judgment of Supreme Court in Sharat Babu Digumarti v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi and also under the mandate of Section 81 of the enactment.

The provision states that IT Act will have an overriding effect and that its provisions shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent contained in any other law for the time being in force.

The PIL also seeks direction on all respondents to provide “separate infrastructure and online visibility” for proper functioning of adjudicating officer appointed under the IT Act and to run mass awareness publicity to increase public awareness about such appointment.

The petitioner submits that whenever a complainant approaches police stations for legal action in cyber crime cases, the police registers an FIR only under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 in a routine manner and does not invoke offences under IT Act.

The plea avers that due to non-implementation of provisions under IT Act in its true sense, the public money spent in establishing and running the special cyber cell police stations in the national capital is getting wasted and that the aggrieved person is unable to avail the remedy under the enactment.

“That the time is the essence in the investigation of the Cyber Crime under the IT Act as the Cyber world is very dynamic and the information spread throughout the world in seconds for which special act i.e. IT Act was enacted by the parliament but due to non- implementation of the various provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 in its true sense by the respondents the purpose of enacting the IT Act is getting defeated,” the plea states.

It is the petitioner’s case that she has “analyzed data” of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), news reports and replies of the RTI applications filed by her to find out if the provisions of IT Act are being implemented in Delhi.

Title: ANANYA KUMAR v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.