This document summarizes key amendments made to Indian laws related to cybercrime evidence. It discusses how the Indian Evidence Act and Information Technology Act were amended to address electronic records and digital signatures. Key points covered include: expanding the definition of evidence to include electronic records; new presumptions related to electronic agreements, records, signatures and messages; and amended provisions for the admissibility and authentication of electronic evidence in court. It also summarizes recent amendments increasing penalties for various cybercrimes like identity theft, cyber terrorism and child pornography.

1. Cyber Crime: Judicial Perspective
By
Talwant Singh
Addl. Distt. & Sessions Judge Delhi
talwantsingh@gmail.com

2. RELEVANCE OF EVIDENCE
 Main purpose of investigation of any crime is to collect
sufficient & legally admissible evidence to ensure
conviction of offenders.
 Requirements of evidence in Cyber Crimes are not
different but its nature has made collection of
Evidence a specialised job.
 Evidence Act & rules already in existence were
considered not sufficient; so IT Act, 2000 made
extensive changes in Indian Evidence Act, 1872

3. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
3. Evidence - "Evidence" means and includes:
 All documents including electronic records
produced in Court are called documentary evidence.
 “Electronic records” has the same meaning as
assigned in IT Act,2000, i.e.:
 image or sound stored, received or sent in an
electronic form; or
 micro film or computer generated micro fiche;

4. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
 17. Admission defined - An admission is a
statement, oral or documentary or contained in
electronic form which suggests any inference as to
any fact in issue or relevant fact.
 27. How much of information received from
accused may be proved - When any fact is
discovered in consequence of information received
from a person accused of any offence, in the custody
of a police officer, so much of such information, as
relates distinctly to the fact thereby discovered, may
be proved.

5. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
When oral admission as to contents of electronic
records are relevant:
 22A. Oral admissions as to the contents of electronic
records are not relevant, unless the genuineness of
the electronic record produced is in question.
 59. Proof of facts by oral evidence - All facts, except
the contents of documents or electronic records, may
be proved by oral evidence.

6. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
 39. How much evidence to be given when
statement forms part of electronic record:
 When any statement of which evidence is given
forms part of an electronic record, then
 Evidence shall be given of so much and no more of
the electronic record, as the Court considers
necessary in that particular case to the full
understanding of the nature and effect of the
statement, and of the circumstances under which it
was made.

7. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Opinion as to digital signature where relevant.
 47A. When the Court has to form an opinion as to the
digital signature of any person, the opinion of the
Certifying Authority which has issued the Digital
Signature Certificate is a relevant fact.
Proof as to digital signature.
 67A. Except in the case of a secure digital signature, if
the digital signature of any subscriber is alleged to
have been affixed to an electronic record, the fact that
such digital signature is the digital signature of the
subscriber must be proved.

8. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Proof as to verification of digital signature.
 73A. In order to ascertain whether a digital signature
is that of the person by whom it purports to have been
affixed, the Court may direct-
 (a) that person or the Controller or the Certifying
Authority to produce the Digital Signature Certificate;
 (b) any other person to apply the public key listed in
the Digital Signature Certificate and verify the digital
signature purported to have been affixed by that
person.

9. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Admissibility of electronic records.
 65B. (1) 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 shall be deemed to be also a document, if
certain conditions are satisfied.
 It 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.

10. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
 65 B (2) The conditions are as following:
 (a) the computer output was produced during the
period when it was used regularly to store or process
information for the purposes of any activities regularly
carried on by a person having lawful control over 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;

11. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
 65 B (2) …
 (c) throughout the said period, computer was
operating properly or, if not, then 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 reproduced or is derived from such
information fed into the computer in the ordinary
course of the said activities.

12. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
 Presumption as to electronic agreements.
 85A The Court shall presume that every
electronic record purporting to be an agreement
containing the digital signatures of the parties
was so concluded by affixing the digital
signature of the parties.

13. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Presumption as to electronic records and digital
signatures:
 85B. (1) the Court shall presume that the secure
electronic record has not been altered since the
specific point of time to which the secure status
relates.
 (2) In proceedings involving secure digital signature,
the Court shall presume that the secure digital
signature is affixed by subscriber with the intention of
signing or approving the electronic record.

14. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Presumption as to electronic messages:
 88A. The Court may presume that an electronic
message forwarded by the originator through an
electronic mail server to the addressee to whom the
message purports to be addressed corresponds
with the message as fed into his computer for
transmission;
 but the Court shall not make any presumption as to
the person by whom such message was sent.

15. INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT (Amended)
Presumption as to electronic records five
years old.
 90A. Where any electronic record, purporting or
proved to be five years old, is produced from any
custody which the Court in the particular case
considers proper, the Court may presume that the
digital signature which purports to be the digital
signature of any particular person was so affixed
by him or any person authorised by him in this
behalf.

16. Recent Amendments
 The Information Technology (Amendment) Bill,
2008 (Bill No.96-F of 2008) was passed by the
Lok Sabha on 22-12-2008 and by the Rajya
Sabha on 23-12-2008.
 It received His Excellency President’s assent on
5th February, 2009.
 The date, from which the amendments are to be
applicable, is yet to be notified.

17. Important Amendments to IT Act
 In Section 43, two new offences added:
1. Destroying, deleting or altering information
in a computer resource to diminish its value.
2. Stealing, concealing or destroying any
computer source code with intention to
cause damage.

18. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Sec. 66 has been replaced providing that if any of
the acts mentioned in Section 43 was done
dishonestly or fraudulently, it is punishable with 3
Years Imprisonment or Fine of Rs.5.00 Lacs or with
both.
 A new Sec.66A is added providing for three years
imprisonment and fine for sending:
1. Offensive or menacing information; or
2. False information for causing insult, injury,
intimidation, hatred or ill-will; or
3. E-mail causing annoyance or to deceive or misled
recipient about the origin of that e-mail

19. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Section 66B makes it an offence to dishonestly
receive or retain any stolen computer resource
or communication device which is punishable
with 3 years imprisonment or fine upto Rs.
1.00 Lac.
 Dishonest use of Electronic Signatures,
password or identification feature invites
punishment upto 3 years and fine upto Rs.
1.00 Lac (Section 66C)

20. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Impersonation with the help of computer or
communication device will result in 3 years
imprisonment and fine upto Rs.1.00 Lac
(Section 66D)
 Violation of privacy by way of sending
electronic visual images of private parts of
body is also punishable with 3 years’
imprisonment or fine upto Rs. 1.00 Lac.
(Section 66E)

21. Important Amendments to IT Act
Cyber Terrorism is defined in Section 66F:
 Whoever threatens the unity, integrity, security or
sovereignty of India or strike terror in people by:
1. Denying access to computer resource; or
2. access computer resource without authority; or
3. Introduce any computer contaminant
and causes death or destruction of property; or
 Penetrates restricted computer resources or
information affecting sovereignty, integrity, friendly
relations with foreign states, public order, decency,
contempt of court, defamation or to the advantage of
foreign state or group of persons.
 It is punishable with imprisonment upto life.

22. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Obscenity has been defined in new Section 67
punishable with imprisonment for 3 years with fine
upto Rs. 5.00 Lacs for first offence and imprisonment
for 5 years with fine upto Rs. 10.00 Lacs for
subsequent offence.
 Section 67A deals with publishing or transmitting
sexually explicit material which is punishable with 5
years imprisonment & fine upto 10.00 Lacs for first
offence and for subsequent offence, imprisonment
upto 7 years with fine upto 10.00 Lacs.

23. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Child Pornography has been made a separate
offence in Section 67B punishable with 5 years
imprisonment & fine upto 10.00 Lacs for first offence
and for subsequent offence, imprisonment upto 7
years with fine upto 10.00 Lacs.
 Section 69 has been redrafted enabling Government
agencies to intercept, monitor or decrypt any
electronic information with the help of subscribers,
intermediary or person incharge of computer
resources.
 Non-cooperation by any of the above invites
imprisonment upto 7 years with fine.

24. Important Amendments to IT Act
 69A: Government gets power to issue directions for
blocking for public access of any information through
any computer resource.
 An intermediary who fails to comply with directions in
this regard shall be punished with imprisonment upto
7 years with fine.
 69B: For cyber security, Government may order
any intermediary to allow access to any computer
resources and violation results in imprisonment upto
3 years with fine.

25. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Sec.72A provides for punishment for disclosure
of information in breach of lawful contract extending
upto 3 years or fine to the tune of Rs. 5.00 Lacs or
with both.
 Section 77:confiscation, compensation awarded or
penalty imposed does not come in the way of penalty,
punishment or compensation under any other Act.
 Compounding of offences with punishment upto 3
years allowed subject to the conditions that accused
has no previous conviction or the offence does not
affect the socio-economic conditions or it was not
committed against a child or a woman.

26. Important Amendments to IT Act
 Sec. 77B prescribes that notwithstanding CrPC:
 Offence punishable with imprisonment of 3 years and
above are cognizable.
 Offence punishable with imprisonment upto 3 years
are bailable.
 Power to investigate Cyber Crimes has been now
vested in Inspectors in place of Dy.S.P.
 Office of Government Examiner of Electronic Evidence
is to be established. (Section 79A)
 Abatement carries same punishment as main act.
 Attempt to commit offence carries half of the
punishment. (Section 84B & 84C)

27. Important Amendments to IPC
 Jurisdiction is not bounded by Country’s boundaries if
the target is a computer resource located in India.
Section 4(3)
 Any act done anywhere in the world is an offence if
the said act, if committed in India is an offence.
Explanation (a) to Section 4
 Voluntary concealment of existence of a design by
encryption or any other information hiding tool is an
offence.
 The words ‘Digital Signatures” have been replaced
with “Electronic signatures”.

28. Important Amendments to CrPC
 Opinion of Examiner of Electronic Evidence has
been made relevant. (Section 45A)
 Examiner is to be treated as an Expert.
 Examiner is to examined like any other expert
from CFSL or other Labs.
 Words ‘Digital Signature” are to be replaced by
“Electronic Signature”.

29. THANKS
TALWANT SINGH
ADDL. DISTT. & SESSIONS JUDGE
talwantsingh@gmail.com