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POWER OF THE POLICE TO INVESTIGATE CYBER CRIME AND CONDUCT SEARCHES

 


“Crime and bad lives are the measure of a state’s failure, all crime in the end is the crime of the community.”   ~ H.G Wells

All of us in the present time must have come across the term cyber crime in our daily lives at some or other time. With the expanding horizons of the internet, criminal activities have also expanded their reach over the virtual world. Cyber crime is the common denomination given to activities which use a computer device to further illegal activities like fraud, trafficking, forgery, breaching privacy etc.

With every passing year, the rate at which these activities take place has grown tenfold. Between, 2012 and 2018, cyber crime incidents registered were around 90,000. According to data published in 2020, the rate of cyber crimes against children has increased by 400%.Therefore, a constant vigil is required to keep the cybercrimes in check. Since, the cybercrimes are conducted using technologically advanced tools, a special legislation was required to deal with them up given our old penal codes were not equipped enough to deal with the new category of crimes emerging.  Therein comes the IT Act, 2000, based on the UNICITRAL model law on E- commerce.

Consequently, in India, cyber crimes are dealt with primarily under the IT Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Civil Procedure.

Just like filing an offline FIR puts the criminal law in motion, reporting in a crime in cyber cell puts the investigating authorities on the front foot and they start their investigation.

Section 78 of the IT Act provides that any officer not below the rank of Sub Inspector has the authority to investigate the cyber offence. The power is restricted as so long as such persons exercise them legally and lawfully and in strict compliance with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. Whereas, Section 80 provides that the police officer has the power to enter any public place and arrest any person who is reasonably suspected of having committed any offence under the IT Act, 2000. The objective behind this particular provision is to give the police officer the power to figure out the computer network being used for the malicious activities, in order to dismantle it or get hold of the person using it.

Above given are the powers to the police officers under the IT Act, to conduct a proper investigation and to be vigilant about these offences and be prepared to conduct a fair, just and equitable investigation.

However, what the police personnel in India lack is awareness about the recent developments in technology and their handling. Even today, people are arrested under the already dead Section 66 A given the lack of knowledge and awareness among the police personnel. Therefore, in order to facilitate the process of investigation and make cyber criminals bend down before the long arms of the law, proper training of police personnel is required to have a just and equitable system of cyber vigilance.


By: Prakhar Tripathi (Content Writer Head. WCSF)


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