Crl. Misc. No. M-18720 of 2010 1 IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATES OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. Crl. Misc. No. M-18720 of 2010 (O&M) Date of decision: 5.7.2010 Arun Kumar Mahajan ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA Present: Mr. B.S. Sewak, Advocate, for the petitioner. Rajan Gupta, J. (oral) The petitioner has preferred this petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking quashing of FIR No.328 dated 10th August, 2009, registered against him under Sections 466, 469, 471, 292, 290, 509, 500 201 IPC and Sections 65/67/72/74 of Information Technology Act, 2000, at Police Station Sadar, Amritsar. The allegation in the FIR is that certain indecent e-mails were received by certain faculty members of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. These were of notorious and mischievous character as some of the faculty members were shown as belonging to a class of animals. A complaint was, thus, made to the police to trace the origin of the said e-mails. An investigation was conducted and origin of the e-mails was traced to Urdu Department. On further inquiry it was found that the person using the computer in Urdu Department had formatted the windows of his computer with a view to destroy the Crl. Misc. No. M-18720 of 2010 2 evidence. The investigating agency came to the conclusion that it was the petitioner who was using the computer and was thus, responsible for sending the notorious e-mails. Learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that from a bare reading of the FIR, no offence under any section of IPC or Information Technology Act is made out and thus, the FIR deserves to be quashed. This apart, there being no allegation that e-mails were obscene in nature, criminal action was unwarranted. I have heard learned counsel for the petitioner and given careful thought to the facts of the case. It appears that FIR was registered on a specific complaint lodged by Registrar, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar to Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar City. In the said complaint, the entire episode regarding receipt of notorious e-mails was enumerated. A request was, thus, made to trace the origin of the e-mails. A detailed investigation was conducted thereafter by the investigating agency. It was found that the petitioner Arun Kumar Mahajan was responsible for sending the e-mails in question. Thus, investigating agency came to the conclusion that petitioner had committed offences under Sections 466, 469, 471, 292, 290, 509, 500, 201 IPC and Sections 65/67/72/74 of Information Technology Act, 2000. Learned counsel for the petitioner has not been able to show how ingredients of these offences are not made out in the case. He has merely argued that FIR deserves to be quashed as it does not disclose commission of any cognizable offence. I Crl. Misc. No. M-18720 of 2010 3 am not convinced with this argument. It is clear from the investigation conducted by the investigating agency, Annexure P-1, that certain mischievous and objectionable e-mails were sent from computer available in the Urdu Department and it is the petitioner who was using the said computer. These e-mails were received by certain faculty members who reported the matter to the university authorities. It is evident that such objectionable material sent through e-mails is capable of spoiling the atmosphere of an educational institution and may harm reputation of some of the faculty members. It is, thus, necessary that investigation and proceedings pursuant thereto are taken to its logical end to curb such incidents. There is no merit in the petition. The same is hereby dismissed. 6 (RAJAN GUPTA) JUDGE 5.7.2010 'rajpal' To be referred to the Reporters or not: Yes / No