The moment a cyber crime is committed, techno legal
efforts to trace the culprit start. However, cyber crime
investigation is a complicated process that may involve multiple
jurisdictions and cross border organised cyber crimes. Since Internet
recognises no boundaries, a cyber crime committed in one jurisdiction
may have rippling effects in another jurisdiction. This gives rise to
conflict
of laws in cyberspace that are difficult to manage.
The framework for cyber
crime investigation in India is still developing. In fact,
in a Public Interest Litigations (PILs) the Supreme Court of India
has issued notice to Centre to seek its views in this regard. Supreme
Court was approached to ensure regulations
and guidelines for effective investigation of cyber crimes in India.
Like other parts of the world, India is also trying
to bridge the gap of skilled cyber workforce and trained law
enforcement agencies. However, we have very few cyber crime and cyber
security research and development centres in India. Similarly, there
are very few cyber
law firms in India that are providing legal
assistance for cyber crime cases in India.
Perry4Law
and Perry4Law’s
Techno Legal Base (PTLB) have been working in the
direction of spreading public awareness regarding cyber law on the
one hand and cyber
crimes investigation on the other. PTLB is managing the
exclusive techno legal Centre
of Excellence for Cyber Crimes Investigation in India.
PTLB is providing the exclusive techno legal cyber
crimes investigation training in India for various
stakeholders. PTLB is also managing the exclusive techno legal
virtual
campus for techno legal trainings in India.
Recently a Constitution
Bench (PDF) of Supreme Court of India in Lalita
Kumari v. Govt Of UP (2013) SC (5J) (PDF)
held that police
officers are bound to register FIR upon receiving information of
commission of a cognizable offence in India. This means
that for cognizable offences, as mentioned in the judgment, police
officers would be left with no option but to register an FIR unless
the case falls in one of the exceptions mentioned by the Supreme
Court. Police officers would now be required to register an FIR for
various cyber crimes as well and investigate the same promptly.
In this background, the cyber crime investigation
has assumed great importance in India as cyber crimes have increasing
a lot in India. Cyber crimes like online defamation, hate speech,
fake social media profiles, misuse of social media, hacking, defacing
of websites, etc require techno legal expertise to solve. With
compulsorily filing of FIR police officials would now be required to
investigate all these cyber crimes.
However, investigation of these cyber crimes would
require techno legal expertise that is presently missing in India.
Realising this fact, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and
Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
are planning to hire contractual services of experts. The
suggestions
regarding rules pertaining to inspection, inquiry and investigation
(SFIO) by Perry4Law (PDF) have already been provided and
these suggestions equally apply to cyber crime investigations
conducted by law enforcement agencies of India.
Indian government must consider these issues on a
priority basis. Further, techno legal expertise of firms like
Perry4Law and institutions like PTLB must also be utilised by Indian
government to fullest extent to make cyber crime investigation in
India meaningful and effective.
