G. Sathish Babu v. State
In the High Court of Madras
Crl. O.P 9978/2018
Before Justice P.N. Prakash
Decided on July 03, 2018

Relevancy of the case: Hacking of source code and stealing confidential information

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 408)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The de facto complainant is an engineer and specializes in designing equipment for thermal power stations.
• He alleges that the applicants (Accused number 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) were employees from May 2014 to August 2015 during which they hacked the source code and stole confidential information and design.
• The complainant further alleges that the applicants established their own units in the name of their wives by stealing the confidential information.
• This court quashed the FIR in Crl. O.P No. 28805/2017 dated 16.02.2018 against the accused number 2 on the finding that investigation was not completed in over 18 months and the one held so far reveals that allegations are not made out.
• Thus, it was requested to call for the record in the current case and quash the complaint about all the applicants.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the investigation conducted so far reveals that alleged source code was secure with the complainant during May 2014 and August 2015 and there was no possibility for accused to have hacked the source code.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the investigation continues to be pending.

Final Decision

• The petition stands allowed.

This case summary has been prepared by Neelangini Tiwari, an undergraduate student at Kirori Mal College, DU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.