Gujarat High Court
Rajkot Photographers Association ... vs State Of Gujarat on 17 October, 2023
NEUTRAL CITATION
R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CRIMINAL APPLICATION (DIRECTION) NO. 2778 of 2018
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RAJKOT PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION THROUGH ITS PRESIDENT
JAYANTILAL GOVINDBHAI SORATHIYA
Versus
STATE OF GUJARAT & 1 other(s)
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Appearance:
AADITYA D BHATT(8580) for the Applicant(s) No. 1
for the Respondent(s) No. 2
MR. CHINTAN DAVE, APP for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP N. BHATT
Date : 17/10/2023
ORAL ORDER
1. The present petition is filed seeking the following reliefs:
"(A) Your lordships may be pleased to declare and direct to the Respondent no. 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar that:
i. No offence under the provisions of copyrights act is a Cognizable Offence, and therefore no F.I.R. can be lodged under the provisions of CrPC.
ii. The powers of Police under Section 64 of the Copy Rights are limited in nature, and whenever any material is confiscated/seized under this section, and/or any other section, these powers our subject to Section 100 of CrPC Page 1 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023 undefined and/or such other provisions of the law and therefore it is necessary to perform the Panchnama at the time of confiscation of the material alleged used for violations of copyrights.
iii. The powers of police to investigate the offence of Copyrights violation, begin only after the appropriate court of Magistrate directing so under the provisions of CrPC i.c. S. 202 of Cr.PC and/or such other provisions of the law, except for the limited powers of the Police under Section 64 of the Copy Rights Act, 1957.
iv. No Private players are authorized to confiscate/ seize any alleged material to have been used for violation of copyrights.
And the Respondent no, 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar may be directed to communicate the same to the all the concerned Police Stations below him in the State of Gujarat.
And;
(B) Appropriate Writ, order or direction may be issued to the Respondent no. 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar to frame the Guidelines/Manual for Collection of Digital Evidence, in lines with the CBDT Digital Evidence Investigating Manual.Page 2 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023
NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023 undefined i. And further be pleased to direct that recovery of entire Computer System, for the alleged violation of Copyrights is not permissible under the provisions of Copy- Rights Act and that only limited parts of the computer systems i.c. Hard Drive etc. may copied (with checksum and / or hashing Encryption for ensuring data integrity).
And the Respondent no. 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar may be directed to communicate the same to the all the concerned Police Stations below him in the State of Gujarat.
C) Pending admission, hearing and final disposal of this petition, your lordships be pleased direct the Respondent no. 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar i. Not to confiscate/seize any material, in respect to copy rights violation, without performing the Panchnama of the any material that may be confiscated/ seized. And/or;
ii. To direct the subordinate police stations under the Respondent no. 2, at Police Bhavan, Gandhinagar, not to lodge an F.I.R under the provisions of Copyrights Act. And not to arrest any person alleged of CopyrightsViolations;
(D) Your lordships be pleased to pass such other and Page 3 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023 undefined further orders, as may be deemed fit, just and proper in the interest of justice."
2. I have heard the learned counsel, Mr. Aaditya D. Bhatt, for the petitioner, and Mr. Chintan Dave, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the respondent No. 1 - State.
3. At the outset, Mr. Bhatt, the learned advocate, has fairly submitted that the prayers made in the present petition at para 6A would not survive in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of M/s Knit Pro International versus The State of NCT of Delhi & Anr., reported in Criminal Appeal No. 807 of 2020 dated 20.5.2022. Therefore, the prayers made in the present petition in para 6A have become infructuous and need not be considered.
4. In view of the prayer prayed in para B, it has been submitted that if the concerned Authority is directed, the quality of the investigation, the time consumed in the investigation, and the harassment to affected parties will reduce. Efficiency of the investigation Page 4 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023 undefined will increase, and the harassment of the parties will be reduced. Considering this ground, this Court is of the opinion that the petitioner should approach the appropriate Authority concerned by making the appropriate submission to the Home Department of the Gujarat State, Director General of Police, etc., with a view to take note of his suggestion and the prayer made in para 6B. The petitioner may also furnish the relevant documents along with the representation to the Authority concerned.
5. It is expected that if the petitioner makes such a representation, in the larger public interest of the justice delivery system, and towards efforts to uplift the quality of investigation, the suggestions shall be appropriately considered. If requires, the petitioner can be given an opportunity to personally present and represent his case.
The Authorities may then make an independent decision after considering the material supplied by the petitioner and looking at the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case.
6. It is open for the petitioner to file appropriate Page 5 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023 NEUTRAL CITATION R/SCR.A/2778/2018 ORDER DATED: 17/10/2023 undefined litigation before the Court after making such representation, in case of any difficulty.
(SANDEEP N. BHATT,J) DIWAKAR SHUKLA Page 6 of 6 Downloaded on : Wed Oct 18 20:46:33 IST 2023