- 1 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU DATED THIS THE 28TH DAY OF JULY, 2026 BEFORE THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 6479 OF 2026 BETWEEN: MR SHYAM PRAVEEN SINGH S/O MOHAN SINGH, AGED ABOUT 26 YEARS, R/AT HOUSE NO.18, NANU BABU CHOWK, AGARPUR, NEAR COMMERCE COLLEGE LALGANI, VAISHALI, BIHAR - 844 121 …PETITIONER (BY MS. JANAVI R., ADVOCATE FOR SRI. BADRUDDEEN B., ADVOCATE) AND: STATE OF KARNATAKA BY WHITEFIELD CEN CRIME POLICE STATION, BENGALURU, REP. BY SPP HIGH COURT BUILDING BENGALURU-01 …RESPONDENT (BY SMT. WAHEEDA M.M., HCGP FOR R1) THIS CRL.P IS FILED U/S 482 CR.P.C. (FILED U/S 528 BNNS) BY THE ADVOCATE FOR THE PETITIONER PRAYING THAT THIS HONOURABLE COURT MAY BE PLEASED TO QUASH THE FIR IN CR.NO.668/2025 REGISTERED BY WHITEFILED CEN CR.P.S. BENGALURU FOR THE OFFENCE P/U/S 67(B) OF I.T ACT PENDING BEFORE THE 47TH A.C.M.M BENGALURU IN SO FAR AS THE PETITIONER IS CONCERNED. THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER: Digitally signed by PADMAVATHI B K Location: High Court of Karnataka - 2 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.NAGAPRASANNA ORAL ORDER The petitioner is before the Court calling in question the registration of a crime in Crime No.668/2025 for an offence punishable under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act' for short). 2. Heard Ms.Janavi R, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, Smt.Waheeda M.M., learned High Court Government Pleader appearing for the respondent and have perused the material on record. 3. A suo-motu crime in Crime No.668/2025 comes to be registered by the Whitefield CEN Crime Police Station on an incident of uploading a video on Facebook, which contains obscene pictures or the videos of a child. The link that was found in the account was of the mobile number belonging to the present petitioner, which was still available to the public at large on the Facebook account. Therefore, on 14.11.2025, the crime comes to be registered on the score that the said obscene pictures or videos were uploaded by the present - 3 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 petitioner on 29.04.2020 and the material was still available on Facebook. Therefore, the offence under Section 67B of the Act has sprung. 4. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner would submit that the complaint itself is registered after 5 years of the incident, in the year 2025, whereas the alleged uploading of the subject video is from the year 2020. The said submission is noted only to be rejected, as the uploading of the obscene videos of a child, keeping it there or even storing it in a phone, is an offence under Section 67B of the Act, albeit prima facie. 5. The Apex Court in the case of JUST RIGHTS FOR CHILDREN ALLIANCE v. S. HARISH1, while considering the entire spectrum of the law and interpretation of Section 67B of the Act, has held as follows: “…. …. …. d. Scope of Section 67B of the IT Act. 144. The IT Act was originally enacted with the object of providing a legal framework for inter- alia recognizing electronic records & digital signatures, facilitating electronic commerce, and 1 2024 SCC OnLine SC 2611 - 4 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 providing a legal sanctity to e-contracts. While the IT Act did include certain provisions to penalize cybercrimes, they were rudimentary and did not comprehensively address issues like creation and facilitation of sexual abuse of children, the online publication, transmission and distribution of child pornography or the sexual inducement, enticement and exploitation of children over the internet. 145. The aforesaid was due to the fact that, the IT Act prior to the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 (for short, the ‘2008 Amendment Act’), criminalized only one act being the publication or transmission of obscene material, under Section 67. The IT Act made no distinction between the publication or transmission of an ‘obscene material’ from the publication or transmission of an obscene material involving any sexually explicit act or conduct i.e., pornographic material or for that matter child pornographic material. More glaringly, there was no difference in either publication or transmission of such material from the distribution, facilitation and consumption of such material over the internet. The IT Act also did not recognize other forms of sexual abuse and exploitation of children over the internet as a punishable offence such as enticement of children into any sexual act. …. .… .... 149. It was in the aforesaid backdrop that the legislature by virtue of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 inter- alia amended Section 67 of the IT Act and introduced Section 67A along with Section 67B. This was for the first time, that a specific provision had been made, to recognize and protect the vulnerable and tender age of children by criminalizing various forms of online sexual degradation, abuse and exploitation with enhanced punishment. At the cost of repetition, Section 67B of the IT Act is being reproduced below:— - 5 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 “67-B. Punishment for publishing or transmitting of material depicting children in sexually explicit act, etc., in electronic form. — Whoever — (a) publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted material in any electronic form which depicts children engaged in sexually explicit act or conduct; or (b) creates text or digital images, collects, seeks, browses, downloads, advertises, promotes, exchanges or distributes material in any electronic form depicting children in obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner; or (c) cultivates, entices or induces children to online relationship with one or more children for and on sexually explicit act or in a manner that may offend a reasonable adult on the computer resources; or (d) facilitates abusing children online; or (e) records in any electronic form own abuse or that of others pertaining to sexually explicit act with children, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with a fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees and in the event of second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years and also with fine which may extend to ten lakh rupees: Provided that provisions of Section 67, Section 67-A and this section does not extend to any book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure in electronic form— (i) the publication of which is proved to be justified as being for the public good on the ground that such book, pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation or figure is in the interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of general concern; or - 6 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 (ii) which is kept or used for bona fide heritage or religious purposes. Explanation. — For the purpose of this section, “children” means a person who has not completed the age of 18 years.” 150. A conjoint reading of Section(s) 67 and 67A viz-a-viz 67B would reveal that unlike the former which penalizes only the publication or transmission of any obscene material or pornographic material, the scope and ambit of Section 67B is much wider inasmuch as it recognizes and penalizes five different forms/categories of actus reus, being:— (i) Section 67B sub-section (a):— a. Section 67B sub-section (a) of the IT Act pertains to the dissemination of child pornography and penalizes the publication or transmission of any material involving a child in any sexually explicit act or conduct, and the direct or indirect involvement in aiding or facilitating the dissemination of such material. b. In order, to constitute an offence under this provision, there must be an actual publication or transmission of any child pornographic material, though the said publication or transmission may be done either by the accused himself or be caused through someone else at the instance or behest of the accused. In other, words Section 67B subsection (a) punishes any person who is involved in a process, in any manner that leads to the publication or transmission of any child pornographic material. c. Thus, twin-conditions as prescribed under Section 67B(a) of the IT Act, need to be satisfied in order to constitute an offence : - (I) the actual publication or transmission of any child pornographic material AND (II) the involvement of the - 7 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 accused in such publication or transmission process in any manner. (ii) Section 67B sub-section (b):— a. It penalizes the creation of any text or image-based content in any electronic form, that depict children in any obscene or indecent or sexually explicit manner. It further penalizes the collection, solicitation, browsing i.e., online viewing, or downloading of such material. Thus, even the mere viewing of any child pornographic material that is stored in a mobile phone would tantamount to ‘browsing’ of such material in electronic form. Lastly, it also penalizes the advertising, promotion, exchange or distribution of any such material. Here again, what is punishable is only the actual commission of any of the above-mentioned acts. b. The scope of Section 67B sub-section (b), is more expansive than the preceding sub- section because, (i) first, the term ‘material’ here includes any electronic content depicting children in sexually explicit acts as well as in obscene or indecent contexts, and (ii) secondly, the actus reus encompasses not just the act of disseminating but also the acts of creating, propagating, or engaging with or using such material. c. In other words, Section 67B sub- section (b) penalizes the actual commission of any of the following:— i. the act of producing or creating any text or digital image based electronic material (incl. videos) that depict children in any obscene, indecent or sexually explicit manner; ii. the act of engaging or using such material by way of collecting, browsing, accessing, downloading, saving, seeking, actively searching such material from any computer resource, and; - 8 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 iii. the act of facilitating or propagating the circulation or dissemination of such material by advertising, promoting, exchanging or sharing, distributing or offering for sale such material from any computer resource on the internet. …. …. …. 151. From the aforesaid, it is clear that Section 67B of the IT Act is a comprehensive provision designed to address and penalize the various electronic forms of exploitation and abuse of children online. It not only punishes the electronic dissemination of child pornographic material, but also the creation, possession, propagation and consumption of such material as-well as the different types of direct and indirect acts of online sexual denigration and exploitation of the vulnerable age of children. 152. This Court in Sharat Babu Digumarti v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi, (2017) 2 SCC 18 held that Chapter XI of the IT Act, more particularly Section(s) 67 through 67B are a complete code in itself when it comes to offences relating to electronic forms of obscene and pornographic material. The relevant observations read as under:— “31. Having noted the provisions, it has to be recapitulated that Section 67 clearly stipulates punishment for publishing, transmitting obscene materials in electronic form. The said provision read with Sections 67-A and 67-B is a complete code relating to the offences that are covered under the IT Act. […]” (Emphasis supplied) 153. Thus, Section(s) 67, 67A and 67B of the IT Act being a complete code, ought to be interpreted in a purposive manner that suppresses the mischief and advances the remedy and ensures that the legislative intent of penalizing the various forms of cyber- - 9 - HC-KAR CNR: KAHC010299402026 NC: 2026:KHC:39111 CRL.P No. 6479 of 2026 offences relating to children and the use of obscene/pornographic material through electronic means is not defeated by a narrow construction of these provisions.” (Emphasis supplied) The Apex Court in the afore-quoted judgment in unambiguous terms holds that possession or storage of pornographic material involving a child would attract the rigours of Section 67B of the Act. 6. In that light, the matter has to be investigated into and cannot be terminated at this nascent stage. 7. Permitting investigation in the case at hand and reserving liberty to the petitioner to avail of such remedy, as available in law, the petition stands dismissed. I.A. No. 1/2026, stands disposed, as a consequence. Sd/- (M.NAGAPRASANNA) JUDGE SJK List No.: 1 Sl No.: 5