Shailabh Jain v. State of Madhya Pradesh
ILR 2013 MP 2747
In the High Court of Madhya Pradesh
M.Cr.C. 7894/2013
Before Justice N.K. Gupta
Decided on November 01, 2013

Relevancy of the case: Should an affected party approach the Adjudicating Officer first before filing a complaint with the police?

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 46, 78, 85)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 154, 227, 482)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 420, 468)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The applicant uploaded a website with an attractive investment scheme. Here,  a consumer deposits ₹7,500 as a membership charge, and they will receive a sum of ₹1000 per month for 11 months.
• The complainant deposited an amount of ₹45 lakhs to the applicants by contacting various consumers and creating different IDs.
• Initially, the applicants sent some SMS to the consumer regarding the deposit of their money in a bank, but no amount was found to be actually deposited.
• The applicants later shifted their branch office, after which no contact occurred between them and the consumers.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The applicant’s counsel argued that bypassing the Adjudicating Officer under Section 46 renders it impossible to file a complaint before the magistrate. The counsel argued that the FIR, filed by the applicants on behalf of the company, necessitates making the company a party to the case. In the final submission, the counsel for the applicants asserted that the procedure of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, was not followed. The complainant directly approached the IG Police and filed a complaint.
• The prosecution’s counsel submitted that the applicant’s website committed various offences under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Opinion of the Bench

• Chapter XI of the Information Technology Act, 2000 does not require taking the Adjudicating Officer’s opinion before registering FIR.
• The learned Sessions Judge rightly rejected the contentions for adding the company as an accused in the present case.
• Even if an IG gives directions for registering the case, the applicant has no disadvantages.

Final Decision

• The court dismissed the petition.

Yagyanseni Acharya, an undergraduate student at VIT School of Law, Chennai, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2024.