Cybercrime and Legal Remedies: Evaluating India's Evolving Legal Framework

Abstract

The past few years have seen the increased and continuous development of technology, which has also contributed to the occurrence of new forms of cybercrime, presenting new challenges for law enforcement agencies and courts. Cybercrime such as identity theft, online fraud, cyberstalking, data breaches, and online harassment has become a cross-border issue. The paper aims to review the changing legal provisions of India to respond to such types of cybercrime. The study focuses on the Information Technology Act, 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and other regulations in this sphere. The analysis presents the existing legal tools available to victims, investigation methods, the nature and admissibility of electronic evidence, and the agencies involved in combating cybercrime. The paper also discusses practical issues affecting successful implementation, including jurisdiction issues, lack of technology, underreporting, verification and attribution issues, and problems with institutional capacities. The author states that although the country has made huge progress in improving its laws regarding cybercrime, their effectiveness depends not only on more crimes being defined as criminal offences but also on improving the investigation abilities and cooperation between relevant agencies and using electronic evidence.