Offences & Penalties under the IT Act, 2000

The word ‘cybercrime’ has not been mentioned in Information Technology Act, 2000. It can be defined as a crime in which a computer is the object of the crime for hacking, phishing, spamming or used as a tool to commit an offence like child pornography, hate crime, etc.

Chapter X (Sections 65 to 74) contains various offences and prescribes for the offences. Various offences and their punishments are presented in chart form:-

Section	Offence	Punishment
Sec 65	Tampering with Computer Source Code	Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine upto Rs. 2 lakhs or both
Sec 66	Computer Related Offences	Imprisonment upto 3 years or fine upto 5 lakhs or both
Sec 66-B	Dishonestly receiving stolen computer resource or communication device	Imprisonment upto 3 years and/or fine upto 1 lakh
Sec 66-C	Identity Theft	Imprisonment of either description upto 3 years and fine upto 1 lakh
Section 66-D	Cheating by personation by using computer resorce	Imprisonment of either description upto 3 years and fine upto 1 lakh
Section 66-E	Violation of Privacy	Imprisonment of either description upto 3 years and fine upto 2 lakh
Section 66-F	Cyber Terrorism	Imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for Life
Sec 67	Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form	On first conviction, imprisonment upto 5 years and fine upto Rs 10 lakhs On subsequent Conviction imprisonment upto 5 years and fine upto Rs. 10 lakh
Sec 67-A	Publishing or transmitting of material containing the sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form	On first conviction, imprisonment upto 5 years and fine upto Rs 10 lakhs On subsequent Conviction imprisonment upto 7 years and fine upto Rs. 10 lakh
Sec 67-B	Publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act etc. in electronic form	On first conviction, imprisonment of either description upto 5 years and fine upto Rs 10 lakhs On subsequent Conviction imprisonment upto 7 years and fine upto Rs. 10 lakh
Sec 67-C	Intermediary internationally or knowing contravening the directions about preservation and retention of information	Imprisonment upto 3 years and fine
Sec 73	Publishing electronic Signature Certificates false in certain particulars	Imprisonment upto 2 years and/or fine upto Rs. 1 lakh
Sec 74	Publication for a fraudulent purpose	Imprisonment upto 2 years and/or fine upto Rs. 1 lakh

Information Technology adds a new dimension to criminal law, presenting many challenges for law enforcement. At the front of law enforcement concern is the necessity to secure adequate training to combat these crimes. The Offences & Penalties under the IT Act, 2000 is read with the other statues like Indian Penal Code, etc.

Also Read: CYBER SEXUAL HARASSMENT LAWS IN INDIA