MHA proposes higher rank officers for cybercrime probes under IT Act

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has suggested modifying the Information Technology (IT) Act to mandate that cybercrime cases be investigated by police officers ranked above inspector, according to a report from a parliamentary committee. This recommendation, sent to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is based on a suggestion from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs.

The committee argued that investigations under the IT Act would benefit from being handled by officers with a higher rank, specifically those who are well-versed in cybercrime aspects such as digital forensics, cyber laws, investigative techniques, cyber hygiene and incident response. This would enable the efficient and swift resolution of cybercrimes.

Currently, Section 78 of the IT Act permits any offense under the law to be investigated by a police officer at the rank of inspector or above. However, the committee has proposed raising this threshold to officers ranked above inspector. This recommendation follows an amendment to the IT Act in 2008, which lowered the minimum rank required to investigate offenses under the IT Act from deputy superintendent of police (DSP) to inspector.

This change went into effect in October 2009. The government reported, via an action taken report released on August 7, that a proposal for amending the IT Act had already been sent by MHA to MeitY. Yet, the report does not disclose the specifics of the proposed amendment, clarify if it is limited to raising the rank of officers authorized to investigate cybercrime cases, or if MeitY has accepted or acted on the proposal. MeitY has not yet responded to HT's request for clarification.