Vishal Kaushik v. The State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) & Anr
(2016) 5 RCR (Cri) 852
In the High Court of Delhi
W.P. (Crl) 2572/2015
Before Justice P.S. Teji
Decided on March 10, 2016

Relevancy of the case: Quashing of FIR for the hacking of wife’s email and Facebook accounts after divorce and payment of alimony

Statutes & Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 65, 66, 67)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• This petition is filed under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 by the petitioner for quashing an FIR which was filed in the Police Station of Paschim Vihar under Sections 65, 66, 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Respondent number 2 (complainant) filed the FIR and she is the petitioner’s wife. Her email account was hacked by the petitioner. As her Facebook account is linked with her email, the petitioner was able to access Facebook account. He subsequently changed the passwords, and as a result, she was not able to access her accounts.
• Consequently, she filed a complaint at the Paschim Vihar Police Station. Later on, she was successful in changing the password of her email. Subsequently, she requested the recent activity of her account and it was found that the petitioner, i.e. her husband, was involved in hacking her account. Hence, she filed an FIR against the petitioner.
• Afterwards, the petitioner and the respondent number settled mutually in the Family Court (Counselling cell) of Dwarka. They both mutually agreed for a divorce. The petitioner as a final settlement towards stridhan, jewellery, permanent alimony and everything related to the marriage accepted to pay a sum of ₹25 lakhs to the respondent number 2. She also asserted she has no opposition to quashing the FIR listed in the case.

The Opinion of the Bench

• Under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the Apex Court explained the exercise of powers to quash the charges to protect the ends of justice in the light of the specific facts and circumstances of the case, even where the crimes are not compoundable.
• There is no obstacle in quashing the FIR registered under Section 65, 66, 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the court is satisfied with the facts and circumstances.

Final Decision

• The petition was allowed and hence, the FIR was quashed.

This case summary has been prepared by Akshara Kamath, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in June/July 2020.