Latest news with #JusticeMNagaprasanna
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- New Indian Express
Karnataka High Court warns against weaponisation of law
BENGALURU: Courts must remain vigilant against the weaponisation of criminal law in civil disputes as the law, when misused, ceases to be a shield and becomes a sword, the Karnataka High Court said while quashing a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The court was hearing a petition filed by realtor Vilas Bhormalji Oswal from Solapur, Maharashtra, questioning the proceedings pending before a special court brought about by his business partner under provisions of the IPC and SC/ST Act. 'The complainant, to wreak vengeance or arm-twist the petitioner over a financial dispute, has made use of the criminal justice system. The complaint is a blade of vengeance, cloaked in the garb of law. A criminal trial, if permitted to proceed, would amount to an egregious abuse of legal machinery,' said Justice M Nagaprasanna. The court said apart from the delay of 118 days in lodging the complaint before the Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement, which sat on it for over three years, no casteist remark was made. A financial dispute between two partners is projected to become a crime, court said. The complainant Somashekara, Oswal and two others were partners in a real estate firm, Green Land Infra, in the city. The dispute surfaced because the petitioner did not sign several documents, resulting in various developments being stalled. The petitioner allegedly threatened the complainant with dire consequences if he did not receive his invested money back from the firm and hurled abuses on December 23, 2020.
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Karnataka HC dismisses PhonePe's plea against police notice, says privacy not a shield against lawful investigation
Noting that 'confidentiality must coexist with accountability', the Karnataka High Court recently dismissed a petition by PhonePe Private Limited against a police notice issued to the financial service company in connection with the investigation in a 2022 online sports betting case. 'The submissions of the petitioner's counsel that information that is to be kept confidential need not be divulged, cannot be accepted. The protection of consumer privacy cannot eclipse the lawful imperative of investigating officers to secure evidence and take the investigation to its logical conclusion,' said a single-judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna in the order dated April 29. The police issued the notice on December 7, 2022, to PhonePe to provide details based on a complaint from a resident of the Chikkamagaluru district, who alleged that he lost funds while transacting through several payment gateways for cricket betting. The notice under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) directed PhonePe to furnish transaction details of certain users. PhonePe's counsel argued that the company is merely an intermediary under the IT Act and that neither the company nor its employees are implicated in the case. The counsel further said the Bankers' Books Evidence Act and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act prohibit the company from disclosing information. The company contended that the investigating officer cannot summon documents or information through a notice without a directive from a court. The bench observed that as per Section 87 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, information would have to be given within 72 hours of the notice from an investigating officer. Citing previous judgments of the high courts of Kerala, Madras, and Bombay, it observed that the laws cited by PhonePe would not be stretched to immunise an institution from investigation. 'The duty to protect data must yield, where public interest and criminal investigation intersect,' the court noted. 'Conventional crimes have receded, and new age crimes have sprung in large numbers. The new age crimes are cyber crimes – the clandestine modern offences… while privacy as contended by the petitioner should be maintained, it cannot be wielded as a shield against lawful investigation,' the court added, while rejecting PhonePe's plea.
New Indian Express
14-05-2025
- New Indian Express
No secrets from law, Karnataka HC raps PhonePe on lost money
BENGALURU: Noting that privacy should be maintained but cannot be wielded as a shield against lawful investigation, High Court dismissed the petition filed by PhonePe Private Limited, questioning the summons issued by CEN police of Bengaluru Rural District to provide details of transactions of the complainant, who lost money after paying through several payment gateways for cricket betting. 'The submissions of the petitioner's counsel that information that is to be kept confidential need not be divulged, cannot be accepted. The protection of consumer privacy cannot eclipse the lawful imperative of investigating officers to secure evidence and take the investigation to its logical conclusion. Confidentiality must coexist with accountability,' said Justice M Nagaprasanna, rejecting the petition filed by PhonePe Private Limited. It further said that today, conventional crimes have receded and new-age crimes have sprung up in large numbers. New-age crimes are cybercrimes, modern offences which demand a swift, and effective response. The police must be empowered within the limits of law to unearth digital footprints that could otherwise vanish. Therefore, while privacy as contended by the petitioner should be maintained, it cannot be wielded as a shield against lawful investigation, the court said. CEN police issued summons dated December 7, 2022, to PhonePe to provide details after receiving a complaint from Prashanth, a resident of Chikkamagaluru district, that he lost funds while transacting through several payment gateways for cricket betting. However, PhonePe contended that it is protected under the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1891, and cannot divulge the information.
