Mukesh Sukhdev Sharma v. State of Maharashtra
In the High Court of Bombay
Crl. A. 1259/2015
Before Justice A S Oka and Justice A A Sayed
Decided on October 18, 2016

Relevancy of the case: Quashing of FIR in a case involving fabrication of stamps and letterheads of SBI and Oxigen Services Pvt Ltd

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 120B, 406, 419, 420, 465, 467, 468, 471)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 482)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• It was alleged that the applicant has fabricated the rubber stamps and letterheads of State Bank of India (SBI) and Oxigen Services (India) Pvt. Ltd. This was done by pirating the software of SBI.
• A declaration on oath was also allegedly obtained from the applicant by adopting coercive methods.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the respondents have made certain admissions in the declaration.

Opinion of the Bench

• The allegations made in the First Information Report against the applicant are very serious and non-cognizable offences that require investigation. In the abovementioned declaration, it is affirmed by the applicant through oath before a Notary Public, which is virtually an admission of guilt affirming that the applicant can understand English, as he signed the affidavit after reading it.

Final Decision

• Application rejected.

This case summary has been prepared by Loreal Sahay, an undergraduate student at University School of Law and Legal Studies, GGSIPU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.