34. Indian Cyber Law and Cyber Crime Awareness
34.2 New Criminal Laws and Electronic Evidence
From 1 July 2024, three new laws replaced the old colonial-era criminal laws:
| Old law | New law |
|---|---|
| Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860 | Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 |
| Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 | Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 |
| Indian Evidence Act, 1872 | Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023 |
Cyber frauds are usually charged under the IT Act together with BNS sections for cheating, extortion, forgery and similar offences. Cases registered before 1 July 2024 continue under the old laws.
Electronic evidence. Emails, logs, screenshots and chats can be evidence in court, but they need a proper certificate of authenticity. Earlier this was section 65B of the Evidence Act; under the BSA the matching provision is section 63. This is why forensics (Chapter 28) insists on hashing evidence, keeping a chain of custody and never working on the original disk.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
When working in a SOC or in forensics, don't think "I took a screenshot, so that's evidence." The original log file, its hash, and who took it, when and how – only if all of this is recorded does it stand up in court. If the chain of custody is broken, even good evidence becomes worthless.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – मराठी
SOC किंवा forensics मध्ये काम करताना "screenshot घेतला, झाला evidence" असा विचार करू नका. Original log file, त्याचा hash, कोणी, कधी, कसा घेतला – हे सगळे नोंदवले तरच court मध्ये टिकते. Chain of custody तुटली तर चांगला पुरावा पण व्यर्थ जातो.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip – हिंदी
SOC या forensics में काम करते समय "screenshot ले लिया, हो गया evidence" ऐसा मत सोचो. Original log file, उसका hash, किसने, कब, कैसे लिया – यह सब दर्ज हो तभी court में टिकता है. Chain of custody टूटी तो अच्छा सबूत भी बेकार हो जाता है.
Practice task
For the Shivneri Traders incident from Chapter 31, list the electronic evidence you would collect (logs, snapshots, emails), how you would hash and store each item, and who would sign the chain-of-custody form.