Unauthorised Recording & Sharing Of Official Conversation Is Cyber Crime, Rules Bombay High Court The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court recently ruled that unauthorized recording and sharing of internal official conversations constitutes a cyber crime, enabling prosecution under the Information Technology Act while dismissing espionage charges under the Official Secrets Act. The case centered on a Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Ltd employee accused of recording and disseminating a conference call between senior officials. Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke partially quashed an FIR registered in 2019 at Sadar police station, emphasizing that the allegations pertained to unlawful handling of official communication rather than acts threatening national security. The employee, who was tasked with connecting conference calls between senior MahaMetro officials, allegedly recorded a conversation and shared it with a colleague. The FIR initially invoked provisions of both the Information Technology Act and the Official Secrets Act. The court clarified that such actions fall under Section 43 of the IT Act, which addresses unauthorized access and extraction of data. The judge noted that the employee’s act of recording the call without permission constituted unauthorized communication, thereby falling within the purview of Section 66 of the IT Act, which carries penalties for cyber offenses. The court rejected arguments that the employee’s actions were merely departmental misconduct, asserting that unauthorized recording and dissemination of official data qualifies as a cyber offense. It further stated that incorrect invocation of legal provisions does not invalidate prosecution if the offense is otherwise established.#information_technology_act #bombay_high_court #justice_urmila_joshi_phalke #maharashtra_metro_rail_corporation_ltd #sadarpolice_station
