This article is written by Sayantani Talapatra of South Calcutta Law College in her BA LLB course during her internship in LeDroit India .
ABSTRACT:
Now in the modern India with the development of science and technology over the years the mode of problems or we can say that mode of doing crime or any type of thing that are causing harm to the people in general has been changed over the years.With the introduction of the modern day technology the way of dispute arising has been changed.Earlier the concept of modernization or digitization was not there without which now in any field people cannot even think of even surviving a day.In this article we will be seeing the evidence which are generally admissible to be applied for a digital evidence as all type of evidence are not eligible to be classified as an digital evidence and the role of a new concept that is modern forensics along with the digital evidence in the modern day litigation.The above mentioned topic usually highlights the way by which the way of litigation can be made easier and faster not only this it also mentions the role of digitization in making the way of litigation more accessible to every modern Indian citizens.Even if we look back for example before the corona period we were not very acknowledged with the term of schools being conducted online as earlier before that there was most commonly used concept was students being physically present n their classes. Thus we can say with the modernization and digitization of everything the mode and different types of crimes being committed online or we can say digitally committed crimes has generally been increased, so for this reason the digital evidence has now been considered s one of the most important form of evidence for litigation to commence beautifully.
SCOPE OF THE ARTICLE :
- Introduction.
- What is a digital evidence and what is cyber forensics?
- How does it affect the modern era ?
- Digitization role in the litigation field .
- The impact it creates in the lives of the people.
- Keywords
- Conclusion
- Relevant case laws.
INTRODUCTION :
In today’s world in every aspect of life maybe in education,sports , dance , anyone’s lifestyle everything in all the nooks and corners there is digitization of everything.Now in all the sectors and aspects the digitization concept is there so in relation to that another most important concept digital evidence is coming to picture,digital evidence is basically the footprints left digitally in simpler words when we search something on social media or in a website the search history becomes the digital evidence in that case. So we can say search history,text messages,call recordings,screen shots,CCTV camera footage’s , recordings ( like audio or video) recordings from any cloud devices,GPS location tracked on a particular device all these are generally considered as digital evidence.Digital evidence thus is considered very important in the digitalized world to prove something to anyone including the court.Digital evidence or cyber forensics is something which is in simpler words tracing the footprint of a event occurred digitally for the happening of the event for example for the breach of a contract, for any crime happening digitally around us.The digital evidence and cyber forensics are most commonly seen in cyber crime investigations any corporate malfunctioning or any crimes happening digitally.So , in a nutshell we can say that the with the rapid growth of the digital era and the digitization of the world this has become thus very important for the litigation and every field of our lives.
WHAT IS A DIGITAL EVIDENCE AND WHAT IS CYBER FORENSICS ?
Digital evidence can be said as the footprints that are available digitally to get admissible anywhere or we can say those digital footprints that are useful for proving something or anything that are usually happening around us.In modern day world the digital evidence usually plays a very important role from stopping any type of wrongful act happening online or digitally as we know that with the growth of the modern world and the increase in number of the crimes the digital evidence usually plays a very important role in our lives.It generally includes the chats that a person is having with anyone online in any kind of social platforms , the browsing history of a person showing the things that he is searching for , the available call recordings in any kind of mobile or any IOS devices,any location tracked on the GPS systems or the CCTV footage’s that are generally been installed in any type of places irrespective of the place category.
On the other hand to describe cyber forensics we have to take an example that for an example if a crime is happening online or in any of the digital platforms then in that case the prime objective becomes to track how the crime is committed and the evidences which will ultimately help in the solving of the case.So in that case the persons those who are associated with the solving of the crime or the fact that has been committed digitally people will trace the footprints digitally linking the roots of the crime being committed on digital platforms .But one of the most important factor in finding out the digital evidence is that the evidence like the browsing history or re-downloading or tracing any files that has been hidden or deleted or searching for any call recordings or history that is available digitally can ultimately help in solving the case.But above all these we have to keep this mind that the things that are happening online or the evidences that are available online should not be tampered ,hampered or should not bee destroyed so that the evidence must be keep intact to be proven digitally or to be get admissible in court.Thus what is a digital evidence and what can be applied for or to be admissible as a digital evidence or to be called as cyber forensics is thus being described above.
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE MODERN ERA ?
It affects us a lot in many ways , looking at the bigger picture we can say that digital evidence and cyber forensics generally acts as a most important pillar for the modern day crime scene investigation. As we know that with the growth of the digital era the rate of modern day crimes occurring digitally has increased over the years thus the digital evidence along with the cyber forensics that are often used for tracing a the footprints of the crime being committed digitally has become very important or we can say equivalent to the modern day crime scene investigation.Thus it paved the way for solving the case or the crimes that are generally being committed digitally or anywhere crimes being committed where the role of digital evidence is basically being required.As modern era is witnessing a whole lot of new crimes thus tracing the digital footprints makes it easier to dig out the roots of the case happening anywhere in any of the digital platforms in the world.
In banking sector we have seen the number of potential digital scams being rising on such an extent that on a daily basis people are going through numerous fraud calls or scams that are being happening online so in this case the digital evidence or cyber forensics generally plays a very important role to trace the online fraud to save the lives of the people.In corporate areas also we can see that the increase in the number of digital fraud or any type of problems that are generally been happening online the role of digital evidence and cyber forensics plays a very important role for the protection and securing the lives of the people digitally or in the bigger picture we can say that the digital evidence and cyber forensics generally help in the protection and the national security all over the world.So we can say that in the modern digital era with the growth and the development with the expansion of the lives of the people in every sector the digital evidence and cyber forensics usually turns anything suspected by any person online or digitally to proving the particular fact or the statement.
DIGITALIZATION ROLE IN THE LITIGATION FIELD :
In the litigation field we can say that the digital evidence or the cyber forensics usually plays a very important role serving as the electronic evidence in proving many crimes that are being committed digitally or we can say that the digitization concept in the litigation field has led to the creating of a completely new concept to picture that is Electronically Stored Information ( ESI ) which is in the present day era has become very evident for solving or finding way out to any of the problems that are generally been committed online or on any of the digital platforms .Going or looking into the court structures and more precisely in there functioning we will be able to see that the courts are also functioning digitally where all the portals for any type of filing or for finding out any type of previously judged cases , everything from filing to finding out the relevant case laws the scope or the digitalization of everything this has affected the litigation field to larger extent as well.
THE IMPACT IT CREATES ON THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE :
Now in the every sector of our lives we can see that there is a increase in the rate of transactions being occurring digitally or any type of thing has become easier leading to the greater convenience of the people in general.It is indeed affecting the lives of the people by helping them with everything.Not overlooking the educational field as well we can see that the increase in the rate of the modernization been happening on a global rate the lives of the people have generally been changed to a larger extent.Thus the digitization has indeed affected the lives of the people in many ways leading to the easier or in a more efficient way.As nowadays we have seen that the matter or as point of fact the privacy of the lives of common people has become vulnerable or in stake as for getting into any type of companies or buying any type of product or we can say that for affording any type of service the person or the human adopting the service or getting in any particular type of company they usually have to give a full fledged original details or they have to show the proper identity to afford the services or to get into the particular company or place they are wishing to get selected.So in a longer note we can say that the digitization has generally affected the lives of the people in a very large extent in all the sectors or the areas they are suitable in.
KEYWORDS :
Digitalization: The most number of times the word has been used , as the digital evidence has cyber forensics to explain these two important concepts that the term digitalization needs to be used to a larger extent.In the modern era also the digitilization has played a very important role in the growth and the development of the people and also the litigation field in every field .
Admissibility: For a evidence to be certified as a digital evidence or to be qualified as a cyber forensics the most important thing is to get admissible as an evidence as the evidence without being admissible as an digital evidence will unable to qualify as an evidence.This is the most important thing for any type of case proceeding of any type of crime or digitally committed wrong happened digitally .
Electronically Stored Information : It is basically the digitally available document that are generally available only in the digitally present platforms .Basically in more simpler language we can say this as the type of document that are available through any of the digital platforms that can be used to present in any type of devices in the form of spreadsheets,google sheets,documents, call recordings or any type of video recordings upon any type of android or any type of IOS devices.
CONCLUSION:
In an overall experience we can say that the digital evidence along with the most important cyber forensics both has become the most important pillars for the running of the digitialized world. The growth or the development of the digital sector along with increase in the number of crimes being committed digitally the two pillars has become very important for strengthening the overall economy in general. If the economy is usually function in a most efficient or simpler way then the world will become a beautiful place to reside in reducing the rate of crimes or any type of wrongful acts that are generally been commited on any of the digitally available platforms .
RELEVANT CASE LAWS :
Arjun Panditrao Khotkar vs Kailash Kushanrao Gorantyal on 14 July, 2020:
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/172105947
1. I.A. No.134044 of 2019 for intervention in C.A. Nos. 20825- 20826 of 2017 is allowed.
2. These Civil Appeals have been referred to a Bench of three honourable Judges of this Court by a Division Bench reference order dated 26.07.2019, dealing with the interpretation of Section 65B of the Indian Date: 2020.07.14 16:56:15 IST Reason.
In this case it was established that the electronic evidence can be held admissible or in other words the admissibility of an electronic evidence was established through this case which generally acts as one of the most important case in the digital evidence and cyber forensics and its role in the modern litigation.
ANVAR P.V. A v. P.K. BASHEER AND ORS.· (Civil Appeal No. 4226 of 2012) SEPTEMBER 18, 2014
https://aphc.gov.in/docs/imp_judgements/Anvar%20PV%20case.pdf
In this case also unlike the previous one the electronic evidence was seen to be admissable under the Indian Evidence Act 1872 or in other words we can say that the admissibility of the elctronic evidence. In this landmark case it was thus established.
