Bombay High Court
Viraj Profiles Private Limited vs The State Of Maharashtra on 19 July, 2024
Author: Revati Mohite Dere
Bench: Revati Mohite Dere
Digitally
signed by
SHAGUFTA
SHAGUFTA QUTBUDDIN
QUTBUDDIN PATHAN
PATHAN Date:
2024.07.22 905-WP-ST-14821-2024.doc
14:29:57
+0530
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL WRIT PETITION (STAMP) NO. 14821 OF 2024
Viraj Profiles Pvt. Ltd.,
Through Authorised Representative
Anjali Sawla ... Petitioner
Versus
The State of Maharashtra ... Respondent
Mr. Abhishek Karnik i/b Mr. Manoj M. Sabale for the Petitioner
Mr. Ajay S. Patil, A.P.P for the Respondent-State
PI Mr. Anil Vibhute from Palghar Cyber Cell and PI Mr. Abhijit
Sonawane from Maharashtra Cyber Cell are present
CORAM : REVATI MOHITE DERE &
ARUN R. PEDNEKER, JJ.
FRIDAY, 19th JULY 2024 P.C :
1 At the outset, learned counsel for the petitioner seeks leave to amend the cause-title. Leave granted. Amendment to be carried out, during the course of the day.SQ Pathan 1/5 ::: Uploaded on - 22/07/2024 ::: Downloaded on - 27/07/2024 23:23:06 :::
905-WP-ST-14821-2024.doc 2 By this petition, the petitioner essentially seeks transfer of investigation of C.R.No. 283/2024 registered with Bhoisar Police Station, Palghar to the Cyber Cell, Maharashtra, having office at Cuffe Parade.
3 Learned A.P.P, on instructions of the officer from Bhoisar Police Station, states that the said police station does not have the expertise for investigation of data theft, and to deal with the petitioner's complaint, since it involves cyber fraud, the Bhoisar Police Station has forwarded a letter to the Cyber Cell, Maharashtra, on 12th July 2024, seeking their help in the investigation of C.R. No.283/2024.
4 Learned counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner company's information i.e. data theft is happening every day and as such, it is imperative that the investigation be transferred to the Cyber Cell, Maharashtra, for further investigation.
SQ Pathan 2/5 ::: Uploaded on - 22/07/2024 ::: Downloaded on - 27/07/2024 23:23:06 :::
905-WP-ST-14821-2024.doc 5 Perused the petition. It appears that the petitioner company is engaged in manufacturing and export of various stainless steel products; that the said company has several departments including a department of Information Technology (`IT') with a team of about 30 employees. It appears that the said employees of the said IT Department are responsible for managing and maintaining the IT Department including maintenance of data servers and its functions. According to the petitioner, on 27th June 2024 at about 2:30 am, 7 major file servers of the IT Department in the petitioner company were attacked by the hackers unauthorisedly and a ransom was demanded in the form of money to release the said data. The petitioner has alleged that the hackers have stolen and encrypted all server files containing confidential and sensitive data/information of the petitioner company. According to the petitioner, the said loss of confidential data of the company is disrupting the functioning of the petitioner company. The petitioner has further alleged that the hackers had demanded a SQ Pathan 3/5 ::: Uploaded on - 22/07/2024 ::: Downloaded on - 27/07/2024 23:23:06 ::: 905-WP-ST-14821-2024.doc ransom amount by leaving a note in the computer system via notepad mentioning therein that "Your data is stolen and the data will be published if you do not pay the ransom" . According to the petitioner, it is imperative that the stolen data which contains confidential and sensitive information of the company will be leaked by the hackers, resulting in financial loss to the petitioner company.
6 Considering what is disclosed to us, it is evident that the Bhoisar Police Station does not have the expertise to investigate the case in hand, which relates to cyber theft and therefore police of the Bhoisar Police Station have addressed a letter to the Cyber Cell, Maharashtra, to assist them in the investigation.
7 In the peculiar facts, considering the nature of offence and the data that is being stolen every day from the petitioner company, we deem it appropriate to transfer the investigation SQ Pathan 4/5 ::: Uploaded on - 22/07/2024 ::: Downloaded on - 27/07/2024 23:23:06 ::: 905-WP-ST-14821-2024.doc from Bhoisar Police Station, Palghar, to Cyber Cell, Maharashtra, having office at Cuffe Parade, forthwith. The concerned officer of Bhoisar Police Station to forthwith handover the papers pertaining to the investigation today during the course of the day or in any event, latest by tomorrow.
8 We expect that the Police Inspector, Cyber Cell, Maharashtra to take over the investigation, record statements and forthwith start investigation in the said case, so as to prevent further data theft and to trace the hackers. We request the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Cyber Cell to monitor the investigation.
9 Stand over to 16th August 2024.
ARUN R. PEDNEKER, J. REVATI MOHITE DERE, J. SQ Pathan 5/5 ::: Uploaded on - 22/07/2024 ::: Downloaded on - 27/07/2024 23:23:06 :::