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Life Term for Cyber Terrorists in India
By Raghavendra Rao of Poornaprajna Cyber Quest
Repeated instances of using cyber space by terrorists in their coordination of attacks and also for claiming responsibility necessitated the Government of India to consider amendments to the Information Technology Act, 2000 which addresses the issues of crime in cyber world. The Information Technology Act, 2000 has now been amended with the passage of a Bill passed by Indian Parliament. Cyber space is vulnerable for misuse. It could be used for terrorism, drug abuse, money laundering, cheating, theft and a host of other crimes. Most of the time criminals go undetected not because that they could not be traced but because of the fact that the affected section of the society, for compelling reasons is not forthcoming to complain of the incidence, make efforts to trace and punish the cyber criminal. However, the Indian Parliament has made an attempt to frame law to inflict punishment to certain categories of cyber crimes. Cyber terrorists could be imprisoned for life term according to the amendment passed to the original Information Technology Act. For publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form, offenders would invite punishment that could vary from five years to life imprisonment and or fine up to one million rupees. Dishonestly receiving stolen source codes, identity theft, cheating by impersonation using computer, violation of privacy will result in imprisonment up to three years apart from fine up to one million rupees. It also provides for compensation to the affected for unlawful loss arising from unauthorized use of computer. In terms of the amendment, now the state and the central governments are empowered to investigate any cyber offence in the national interest. The quantum of punishment for offenders is not commensurate with the nature of crime committable. The crime could even cause death of many hundreds and thousands of innocent citizens and loss of property that could run into to ten digits or more. Is just life imprisonment sufficient for such a ghastly crime? The law makers would have done well to provide for capital punishment alone after summary trial. If the cyber terrorism is to be countered effectively, the penal provisions of law should equally be terrorizing. It does not matter losing the life of bad elements like mass killers of human beings. By preventing terrorist attacks, the government would save many precious lives of general public and service personnel. A terrorist need to shiver before venturing into misdeeds, if any being attempted due to compulsions and offerings, he should know about the consequences if such an act is carried out. Therefore, the penal provisions need to be stringent. The same law should be applicable to anyone who prompts, abets and aids terrorism in any form. To a large extent such a step would curb the growth of terrorism. The provisions of Information Technology Act, 2000 should be amended to provide for penal provisions for capital punishment for cyber terrorism and life imprisonment with a fine of ten million rupees for lesser form of cyber crimes. To take such a bold step there should be political will and support of the public. Suggestions are easy to be made but method of implementation lies in the skill of the law makers. The law makers need to feel the individual loss and agony resulting out of terror acts. Imagine the plight of the dependants of the victims. Future of the nation lies in how strong the will and imagination power of the law makers are.
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Contributor's Note
Author is a practising lawyer in India and founder of Poornaprajna Cyber Quest, a cyber crime investigation team based in Bangalore City, Karnataka State, India
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This intel first appeared on: http://ppcyberquest.blog.co.in
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