Rajan Dattatray Bidaye v. State of Maharashtra
In the High Court of Bombay
A.B.A. 1499/2018
Before Justice Anuja Prabhudessai
Decided on April 04, 2022

Relevancy of the case: Anticipatory bail application in a case involving the transfer of a company’s confidential data using a pendrive

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 43, 66)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 381, 408)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The applicant was a former Senior Deputy General Manager at Balkrishna Industries Limited. He was entrusted with the company’s sensitive information.
• The defendant is the ex-employer of the applicant who filed an FIR against the applicant, alleging the transfer of the company’s intellectual data to a rival company.
• Before filing the FIR, the applicant expressly intended to resign from the company.
• The applicant’s wife had lodged a complaint against the company’s officials for entering her house and taking away the applicant’s laptop and pen drive.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The applicant’s counsel argued that the present complaint was filed solely to counter his wife’s complaint. Further, the laptop and pen drive were sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) after the crime was registered in 2017, but the police have not yet filed the charge sheet.

Opinion of the Bench

• The applicant has been on interim bail since 2018 and has duly complied with the Investigating Officers.
• The court is yet to receive the forensics report from CFSL.

Final Decision

• The bench allowed the anticipatory bail application.

Nikita D’Lima, an undergraduate student at NMIMS School of Law, Navi Mumbai, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2023.