Updated: September 29, 2020 3:12:56 pm
Section 102 of the CrPC gives the police the power to seize the private mobile / laptop / diary or anything they think will help them investigate the case. (Source: Pixabay and Instagram)
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which is investigating drug charges against actor Rhea Chakraborty and others, has seized and recovered data from the mobile phones of Rhea and Jaya Saha, manager of the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. NCB has named Rhea and Shah as defendants in their FIRs in the case. They also seized the phones of actresses Deepika Padukone, Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan, who are not charged in the case.
Can the police seize the phones of those investigated?
Yes. Article 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives the police the right to seize material that they consider valuable as part of the investigation. The sections on the power of a police officer to confiscate certain property say: “Any police officer may seize any property that may be alleged or suspected to have been stolen, or that may be found in circumstances that create suspicion of the commission of any offense. Such a police officer … will immediately report the seizure to the competent Magistrate and the location where the property was seized. “NCB, a central agency that is not technically police, obtains similar” search and seizure “powers from the NDPS Act.
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What if the person has not been named a defendant?
Section 102 of the CrPC gives the police the power to seize the private mobile / laptop / diary or anything they think will help them investigate the case. It does not matter if the person is a defendant or just a witness in the case, as long as the police believe they have something that will aid the investigation.
Are there guarantees to respect the privacy of the person whose phone is seized?
An investigating officer is expected to remove personal devices for investigation only and should not be leaked to anyone. However, if someone feels that their data is being leaked, he / she can approach the court hearing the matter so that the agency does not make leaks that could lead to defamation. “As all content of private data is considered indiscretion by the investigating agency,” said an IPS official.
In the case of Deepika, Sara and Shraddha, the agency said they had voluntarily surrendered their phones. How does it work?
An IPS official said that while they generally confiscate defendants’ phones, when it comes to obtaining data from witnesses or government agencies such as land records in a particular case, there is also something called “handover / takeover” for one more operation. fluid. The seizure of a particular document / device involves a proper procedure that includes seizing evidence in the presence of witnesses and making a panchnama, sealing the items and also taking the hash value in the case of electronic items to prove that they were not tampered with . Handover / repossession is generally done without these detailed procedures and means speeding up the process.
In which cases do agencies carry out seizures and / or surrender / take over?
In cases where there is a probability that the person may later claim in court that the evidence was tampered with, the agencies generally confiscate it for safeguards against any allegation, as all evidence is sealed in front of witnesses to the who can be called to confirm the same in court. Assignment / repossession is generally reserved in cases where there is no chance of prosecution, such as a government body delivering land records / birth certificates to an agency. Usually, while the state police prefer seizures in most cases, while central agencies like the CBI sometimes use surrender / takeover.
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What is hash value in electronic product cases?
When an agency confiscates a mobile, laptop or any electronic device, it must take the hash value. A hash value is basically an algorithm that is a specific numeric value that identifies the contents of the file at a certain time. If you try to change the content of the device, the hash value will change. When the device is handed over to a forensic authority to recover data, they are expected to go ahead only if the hash value recorded at the time of seizure is the same as that of the device when it was handed over to them. Ensures the sanctity of the data. If during a raid, there are no experts assessing the hash value, the officers are supposed to seal the phone in a bag which is then opened in front of the cyber experts. Even in computer cases, agents are not supposed to shut down the computer, as data could be lost, and simply pull out the cable and seal it.
Are there cases where the hash value has not been provided to the defendant?
In the Bhima Koregaon case, where several activists and lawyers were arrested on charges of inciting violence at the Elgar Parishad in Shaniwar Wada in Pune in 2017, relatives of some of the arrested defendants alleged that the Pune police did not provided the hash value. of the devices seized from the residence of the accused. The allegations were that the hash value in some cases was provided months later, calling into question the sanctity of the data on the devices, the defendant had alleged.
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So when are seized devices returned?
It depends on what investigating agencies find on these devices. In the event that no evidence to be used is found on the charge sheet, the owner of the device or the investigating officer can apply to the court for the device to be returned. If you have important evidence, the person may have to wait until the end of the trial or after the court has recorded the evidence before the court agrees to return it to the landlord.
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