LAWS(DLH)-2008-5-253

AVNISH BAJAJ Vs. STATE

Decided On May 29, 2008
AVNISH BAJAJ Appellant
V/S
STATE Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) INTRODUCTION over three and a half years ago, an internet website carried a listing which offered for sale a video clip, shot on a mobile phone, of two children of a school in Delhi indulging in an explicitly sexual act. The petitioner, who was the Managing Director (MD) of the company that owned the website at the relevant point in time, asks this Court to annul his criminal prosecution for the offences of making available for sale and causing to be published an obscene product within the meaning of Section 292 Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information technology Act 2000 (IT Act ). This petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal procedure 1973 ('crpc) also raises questions concerning the criminal liability of directors for the offences attributable to a company, both under the IPC as well as the IT Act, particularly when such company is not arraigned as an accused.

(2.) BAAZEE. COM India Private Limited ('bipl'), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ebay Inc. USA, and the owner of the website http:// www. baazee. com, was during the relevant period in the process of being acquired by and consequently renamed as Ebay India private Limited (EIPL ). BIPL had its main office at Mumbai and another office in Delhi. During november to December 2004 the petitioner avnish Bajaj was the MD of BIPL (which later was renamed as EIPL ).

(3.) THE sequence of events relevant to the present case unfolded thus. Ravi Raj, a fourth year student of the Indian Institute of technology (IIT) Kharagpur, was registered as a seller with baazee. com since 21st July 2004. He had already been using the site for listing products for sale. His email ID was psell@sify. com.