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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | ‘Falsifying information online a punishable offence’-Devesh K Pandey

‘Falsifying information online a punishable offence’-Devesh K Pandey

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published Published on Apr 26, 2013   modified Modified on Apr 26, 2013
-The Hindu


Oblivious of the fact that misrepresentation on the Internet amounts to creation of false electronic record, which is punishable with even imprisonment, a large number of people, including minors, are opening accounts on social networking websites by making false disclosures about their name, age and place.

Legal experts have cautioned that such misrepresentation can invite penal action. "Creating false electronic record is an offence under the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code. Under Section 465, the offence would attract punishment up to two years' imprisonment and if the account so opened is used for the purpose of cheating, it would be punishable with a maximum of seven years' imprisonment," said top cyber law expert Pavan Duggal.

Children "openly lying about their age to create accounts on these websites" were likely to face potential legal exposure" and even parents "who knowingly misrepresent information about their children while opening accounts in their names," could be prosecuted under the IPC and the IT Act. "Ignorance of law is no excuse," he said. The online contract between users and the social networking site was enforceable in India, as acceptance of the contract was made here and, therefore, it would be governed by Indian laws, including the amended IT Act, he noted.

Further, such electronic contracts impact computer systems and network physically located in India and hence, under Sections 1 and 77 of the IT Act, Indian cyber law would be applicable to such contract. "The contract, if made with a U.S. entity, would be governed by the U.S. laws. However, since the contract gets concluded in an Indian location, it will have to be examined from the perspective of the Indian Contract Act."

Accordingly, under the Indian law, both sides must be competent to contract, which means that they must be adults and of sound mind and the contract must be for lawful purposes. "Therefore, any [online] contract with a minor is null and void under the Indian Contract Act. While the age of majority in India is 18, it varies from country to country," Mr. Duggal said.

Lawyer Virag Gupta, counsel for petitioner Govindacharya, the former BJP ideologue, in the Delhi High Court against Facebook and Google for allegedly allowing opening of fake accounts on their sites - also said use of false information to open accounts could amount to an offence under the IT Act and the IPC.

Even parents "who knowingly misrepresent information about their children while opening accounts in their names" can be prosecuted


The Hindu, 26 April, 2013, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/falsifying-information-online-a-punishable-offence/article4655682.ece


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