Priyanka Lahre v. State of Chhattisgarh
In the High Court of Chhattisgarh
Crl. Misc. Petition 988/2020
Before Justice Sanjay K Agrawal
Decided on December 03, 2020 

Relevancy of the case: Petition for interim custody of a phone after completion of the investigation. 

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 68)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Sections 120B, 201, 384, 389, 507)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• This is a criminal miscellaneous petition filed against the order of Judicial Magistrate and Additional Sessions Judge for the interim custody of a mobile phone.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that rejection of the request for interim custody was unjustified as the mobile phone would be used during the trial when the investigation has been done and the charge-sheet has been filed.
• It was also argued that the previous judgments were not based on past precedents.

Opinion of the Bench

• The bench was of the view that the learned Judicial Magistrate and learned Additional Sessions Judge had not taken their decision with regards to the precedents set.
• Hence their earlier decision was set aside and the petition was sent back to Additional Sessions Judge, Raipur for a decision.

Final Decision

• The petition stands disposed of.

This case summary has been prepared by Anushka Ojha, an undergraduate student at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College, Pune, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2021.