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C N R : KAHC0105 33562026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 1^ST DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA WRIT PETITION NO. 24177 OF 2026 (GM-RES)

BETWEEN:

ABHAY SHEE AGED ABOUT 22 YEARS, RESIDING AT NO.558, SAIDULAJAB, POST OFFICE MEHRAULI, SOUTH DELHI – 110 030.

…PETITIONER (BY SRI UDAY SHANKAR M., ADVOCATE)

AND:

D si i g g n it e a d l l b y y CHETAN B C 1. STATE OF KARNATAKA THROUGH L H o ig ca h t C io o n u : rt THE STATION HOUSE OFFICER, of Karnataka CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, BENGALURU CITY, KARNATAKA.

REPRESENTED BY THE STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA, BENGALURU – 560 001.

2. SRI SUBBARAO POLICE SUB-INSPECTOR, C N R : KAHC0105 33562026 CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, BENGALURU CITY, KARNATAKA.

…RESPONDENTS (BY SMT.WAHEEDA M.M., HCGP FOR R-1)

THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA READ WITH SECTION 482 OF CR.P.C., / SECTION 528 OF BNSS, PRAYING TO QUASH FIR NO.66/2025 (CR. NO.66/2025) REGISTERED BY THE CYBER CRIME POLICE STATION, BENGALURU CITY FOR THE OFFENCE UNDER SECTION 66-F OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACT, 2000, AND QUASH THE CHARGE SHEET IN C.C.NO. 41074/2026 PENDING ON THE FILE OF THE HON'BLE 45^TH ADDITIONAL CHIEF JUDICIAL MAGISTRATE, BENGALURU, INSOFAR AS THE PETITIONER IS CONCERNED, IN EXERCISE OF THE INHERENT JURISDICTION OF THIS HON'BLE COURT VIDE ANNEXURE-B AND C.

THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA

ORAL ORDER

The petitioner is before the Court calling in question the in C.C.No.41074/2026, pending before the 45^th Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bengaluru, registered for the offences punishable under Section 351(4) of the BNS and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Act’ for short).

C N R : KAHC0105 33562026

2. Heard Sri Uday Shankar M., learned counsel for the petitioner and Smt. Waheeda M.M., learned counsel for the respondents.

3. Facts, in brief, germane are as follows:

3.1. The petitioner is accused No.1 and respondent No.2, the Sub-Inspector of Police attached to the Cyber Crime Police Station, is the complainant. The genesis of the prosecution lies in an incident that is alleged to have occurred on 30.11.2025. On the said date, certain electronic mails, ominous in their tenor and alarming in their contents, are said to have landed in the electronic mailbox of the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City. The mails carried threats of bomb blasts at the Kempegowda International Airport and several shopping malls situated within the city of Bengaluru. The threats, by their very nature, were sufficient to send alarm bells ringing across the law enforcement machinery, as they concerned not merely the security of public establishments but the safety of innumerable citizens frequenting such places.

C N R : KAHC0105 33562026

3.2. The information was immediately transmitted to the authorities concerned, setting the investigative machinery into motion. During the course of investigation, it is alleged to have emerged that the threatening electronic mails had emanated from an email account attributable to the petitioner. This discovery became the fulcrum of registration of Crime No.66 of 2025, initially invoking Section 66F of the Information Technology Act, 2000 ('the Act' for short), which deals with the grave offence of cyber terrorism. The investigation, however, appears to have taken a different course. Though the crime was initially registered for the offence of cyber terrorism, the Investigating Officer, upon completion of investigation, chose not to carry forward the said offence against the petitioner. The allegation concerning the transmission of threatening electronic mails nevertheless survived, culminating in the filing of a charge sheet for offences punishable under Section 351(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 ('the B