What are the conditions under which a criminal investigation can be quashed? What constitutes tampering with computer source documents under Section 65 of the IT Act? What constitutes infringement of copyright in a computer program under the Copyright Act?

Key Points: - The court examined petitions seeking to quash FIR No. 20 of 2003 registered under Sections 409, 420, 120b of IPC, Section 65 of the IT Act, and Section 63 of the Copyright Act (!) . - The crime was registered based on a complaint alleging that other mobile service providers were wooing subscribers of Reliance India Mobile (RIM) through unethical and illegal practices, including reprogramming handsets (!) (!) (!) . - Investigation revealed that Reliance India Mobile handsets were allegedly being migrated to the TATA Indicom network by reprogramming, which was considered illegal due to agreements with handset manufacturers (!) . - Petitioners, employees of Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL), argued that activating NAM 1 or NAM 2 on a handset brought by a subscriber of another service provider does not constitute a crime (!) . - The court found that offenses under Sections 409, 420, and 120b of the IPC were not made out as there was no dishonest appropriation or fraudulent inducement to deliver property (!) (!) . - The court determined that a cell phone, by definition, is a computer and its circuit board is a microprocessor, making it capable of performing computer functions (!) (!) . - Altering the Electronic Serial Number (ESN) of a cell phone handset, which is a unique number programmed during manufacturing, could prima facie attract the offense under Section 65 of the IT Act, as it relates to tampering with computer source code (!) (!) . - The court held that a computer program is an original literary work protected by the Copyright Act, and altering a computer program of another person or company would be an infringement of copyright (!) (!) . - Unless an investigation is shown to be illegal or would result in a miscarriage of justice, a criminal investigation cannot ordinarily be quashed (!) . - The criminal petitions were dismissed concerning offenses under Section 65 of the IT Act and Section 63 of the Copyright Act, but quashed for offenses under Sections 409, 420, and 120b of the IPC (!) .

What are the conditions under which a criminal investigation can be quashed?

What constitutes tampering with computer source documents under Section 65 of the IT Act?

What constitutes infringement of copyright in a computer program under the Copyright Act?