SMT L ROOPA vs STATE OF KARNATAKA
- Court
- Karnataka High Court
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
ND
DATED THIS THE 2 DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2026
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 1245 OF 2026 (482(Cr.PC) / 528(BNSS)
BETWEEN:
SMT L ROOPA
DAUGHTER OF LAKSHMINARAYANA S G,
AGED ABOUT 48 YEARS,
RESIDING AT NO. 36, PUSHKARANI NILAYA,
TH ST
7 CROSS, 1 MAIN, NAGAR,
SHAKTHIGANAPATHI NAGAR
BASAVESHWARANAGAR,
BANGALORE – 560 079.
…PETITIONER
(BY SRI. GIRIDHAR S V, ADVOCATE)
AND:
1. STATE OF KARNATAKA
BY CHENNAMMANAKERE ACCHUKATTU P.S,
BENGALURU.
REPRESENTED BY SPP,
HIGH COURT BUILDING COMPLEX,
BENGALURU 560 001.
2. N. CHANDRA SHEKAR,
AGED ABOUT MAJOR,
RESIDING AT NO. 17,
CHETTY SUBBARAMA ROAD,
BASAVANAGUDI,
BANGALORE – 560 004.
…RESPONDENTS
(BY SRI. GIRIDHAR.S.V, ADVOCATE)
Digitally
signed by
VANDANA S
Location:
High Court
of
Karnataka
THIS CRL.P IS FILED U/S 482 CR.P.C (U/S 528 BNSS) BY PRAYING
TO QUASH THE PROCEEDINGS AND ALLOW THE PRESENT CRL.P AND
QUASH THE PROCEEDINGS IN CC.NO.3171/2018 ON THE FILE OF THE
COURT OF THE XXXVII ACMM, BANGALORE, IN SO FAR AS THE
PRESENT PETITIONER/ACCUSED NO.3 IS CONCERNED, ARISING OUT
OF CR.NO.252/2017 REGISTERED BY RESPONDENT NO.1, FOR THE
OFFENCES P/U/S 66(B) AND 66(C) OF I.T ACT, 2000.
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR ADMISSION, THIS DAY, ORDER
WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR
ORAL ORDER
In this petition, the petitioner seeks the following reliefs:
“a. Call for the records presently on the file of the XXXVII
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru in
C.C.No.3171/2018;
b. Quash the proceedings allow the present Criminal Petition
and quash the proceedings in C.C.No.3171/2018 on the file
of the Court of the XXXVII Additional Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate, Bangalore, insofar as the present
Petitioner/Accused No.3 is concerned, arising out of Crime
No.252/2017 registered by Respondent No.1, for the alleged
offences under Sections 66B and 66C of the information
Technology Act, 2000;
c. Pass such order/orders as this Hon’ble Court deems fit to
grant in the circumstances of the case, including an order as
to the costs of the present proceedings, in the interest of
justice and equity.”
2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
counsel for respondent No.1 and perused the material on record.
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NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
3. A perusal of the material on record will indicate that
respondent No.2 - defacto complainant filed a complaint registered
as an FIR in Crime No.252/2017 dated 13.07.2019 arraying one
Arvind G. as the sole accused in the said FIR. In pursuance of
investigation, the police filed a charge sheet, which is now
presently pending in C.C.No.3171/2018 against the aforesaid
Arvind - accused No.1, Madhusudan K. Nagara - accused no. 2
and the petitioner herein who is arraigned as accused No.3 in the
said proceedings. In this context, it is relevant to state that in
relevant to state that the aforesaid accused No.2, Madhusudan K.
Nagara approached this Court in Crl.P.No.2916/2025, which was
allowed by this Court vide final order dated 01.07.2025 thereby
quashing the proceedings by holding as under:
“In this writ petition, the petitioner seeks the following
reliefs:
"WHEREFORE it is most respectfully prayed
this Hon'ble Court be pleased to quash the Order
dated 4/1/2025 passed by the LXIII Addl. City Civil and
Sessions Judge (CCH-64) at Bengaluru in Criminal
Revision Petition No.555/2022 and Consequently
quash the entire proceedings in C.C.No.3171/2018
which is now pending on the file of the I Addl. Chief
Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru for offences p/u/s
66(B), 66(C) of Information technology act-2000 in so
far as the Petitioner is concern in the ends of justice."
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NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner,
learned HCGP for respondent no.1 and perused the material
on record. Respondent no.2 has remained absent and has
been served with notice of this petition and he has chosen to
be unrepresented.
3. Perusal of the material on record would indicate
that on 13.07.2017, respondent no.2-complaiant has filed the
instant complaint, registered as and FIR in Cr.No.252/2017
against the petitioner-accused no.1 alleging the offences
punishable under sections 66B and 66 C of Information
Technology Act r/w Section 420 IPC. The said complaint
reads as under:
"13.07.2017
Police Inspector, C.K. ACHKATTU Police Station Bangalore
SUB: HACKING OF MY PERSONAL INCOME TAX
ACCOUNT (AAYPC4282C) ON INCOME TAX PORTAL BY
MR.ARAVIND G of AARYA ASSOCIATES.
Ref: Investigation done by Cyber Cell of COD Police
Bangalore.
Dear Sir,
I the undersigned have found out that my Income tax
account has been hacked and my private information has
been accessed to by a person who is a total stranger to me.
After coming to know about the fact that my account was
registered by a totally unknown person in the year 2013.
After being unable to access our account we sought to know
the details of the person who have been accessing my
account from the IT Department and we came to know from
them that a person by MR.ARAVIND G of AARYA
ASSOCIATES with the following details Email:
aravind@aaryassociates. in Mobile Number: 9845828698
was the registered user. In order to avoid further misuse of
downloading private and proprietary information from our
account we tried to locate this person after months of
struggle and on a look out at multiple places whose details
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
are as attached, claimed to be as his Auditor offices, where
he really does not exist, we got hold of him at last at House
No. 23/A, Nanda Gokula, 1st Cross/2nd B Cross, Vidyapeeta
Circle, Bangalore -28, mob: 9845828698 and also found that
he is staying at No.5, Shri Nanjundashwara Nilaya, BTR
Garden, (Near Kudlu Gate) Kudlu Main Road, Madivala,
Bangalore-560068 mob: 9341805090.
But his own details on the internet states to the contrary It
was possibly luck of mine that I could get hold of this person
at this address as he was not located at any of the office that
he claims he is operating from. I simply cannot understand
and come to terms as to how a stranger like MR.ARAVIND
G of AARYA ASSOCIATES has illegitimately hacked into my
Income Tax Retur account and accessed records in violation
of my rights and privacy and without any permission or
authorization from me, it only increases the fear in me
whether he is actively involved in illegitimate trading of
information's like this with beneficiaries. Additionally, I had
found my account password changed and contact details of
this MR.ARAVIND G of AARYA ASSOCIATES in my primary
contact information of my ITR account. After I took strong
exception to his act he casually states to me that from today
onwards he will not access my account and I can change
and create my own user ID and password if I wish to. By the
way he spoke to me carelessly and recklessly I also fear that
he may have similarly hacked into other accounts and have
been a regular offender for illegitimate and unlawful gains.
After this callous attitude from the offender we took up the
matter with concerned authorities and the same was referred
to Cyber Wing of COD for investigation and from their
investigation it was found that MR.ARAVIND G of AARYA
ASSOCIATES had accessed my account from 2013 by
creating his own user id and password. After finding that he
had unauthorized access to my account COD police have
forwarded the file to Hanumanthanagar Police station for
registering the case and apprehending the offenders.
It is submitted that in view of the highly sensitive nature of
portals like Income Tax department, such an intrusion can
be of immediate and grave security threat and hence
requires swift action and thorough investigation request your
office to immediately initiate criminal action involving hacking
of my online IT account and the guilty person(s) involved in
the said crime may plea be prosecuted and initiate other
suitable acts to prevent them from causing further damage
and breach of security for innocent people like myself and
many others like me who would have believed that our
details on the Income Tax portal are safe as it is proper
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
check and balances from the Income Tax Department to
avoid infringement of privacy by stranger as it involves
private and confidential information.
Since he has infringed my personal rights by creating his
own login ID for my Income tax account on your portal I
request your good office to initiate action not only under-
income tax acts or statutes but also under all laws and
authorities on this land to ensure that these kind of acts are
not taken lightly by fraudsters. And i request you to write to
the concerned authorities like Institute of Chartered
Accountant to terminate their practice forthwith and initiate
quick and immediate action on the professional misconduct
by a person who claims himself a Chartered Accountant.
The undersigned may please be kept informed of the action
being taken and progress of investigation.
Yours sincerely
(N.Chandrashekar)
Enclosure 1: Screenshot of ITR Account with primary contact
information of Aravind G, Aarya Associates log-in in my
account.
Enclosure 2: Details of Arvind claiming to be a Chartered
Accountant having various offices and offering his services
(we could not locate him in any of these places)
Enclosure 3: Aravind G, Aarya Associates business card
(the address in this is where we could catch him finally)
Contact Details of the Complainant:
N.Chandra Shekar No 17, Subbarama Chetty Road
Basavanagudi Bangalore-560004 Karnataka, India.
8553607550”
4. Perusal of the aforesaid complaint would indicate that
no allegations are made against the petitioner herein who is
not even arrayed/impleaded as a accused person to the
impugned complaint and FIR. Subsequently, the petitioner
has been arrayed as accused no.2 in the impugned charge
sheet on the ground that he is alleged to have sent an email
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
to accused no.3, who is none other than the wife of the
defacto complainant. In this context, the summary of the
charge sheet reads as under:
" ೇನ ಸಂ ಪ ಾಾಂಶ
-1 - Income Tax Account No-AAYPC4282C
ಾ ರವ gÀÄ
-1 -2 -1
ºÉÆA¢zÀÄÝ, ಆ ೋ ರವರು ಆ ೋ ªÀÄvÀÄÛ 3 gÀªÀjAzÀ ಾ
Income Tax Account No-
gÀªÀjUÉ ¸ÀA§A¢ü¹zÀ
AAYPC4282C PAN NO-AAYPC4282C, Name-N
Chandrashekar, Father Name- V. Narayanaswamy Date of
Birth-11-02-1970, IT Ward-4(1)
ªÀiÁ»wAiÀÄ£ÀÄß ¥ÀqÉzÀÄPÉÆAqÀÄ
18-03-2013 Income Tax ID
¢£ÁAPÀ: gÀAzÀÄ
[email protected]
UÉ ªÉÄîÌAqÀ ªÀiÁ»wUÀ¼À£ÀÄß
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ೕ ಾ ಾ ರವರ ಾ ವ ೕ ೆ ಾಡಲು ೋ ದು#
[email protected]
ಇ%ೇ &ನ ಇ' ಕಂ )ಾ*+, ಐ
-1 mail ID PAN ,
.ಂದ ಆ ೋ ರವರ /ೆ .ಮ1 2ಸ34 ಆ5ಲ6
. -1 -
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2 , -2 , -1
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Aೊಸ%ಾ5 2ಸ34 ಾ ಾB> Cೆ/ೆದು ೊಡುವಂCೆ ೇ?ರುCಾ ೆ
-1 [email protected]
ಅದರಂCೆ ಆ ೋ ರವರು ತಮ1
mail ID -1 PAN
ಉಪGೕ5 ೊಂಡು Aೊಸ%ಾ5 ಾ ರವರ
Register : 19-03-2013 -1
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2010, 2011, 2012 2013 4
ಸಂಬಂI ದಂCೆ Aಾಗೂ ರ ಒಟು3
26AS
ವಷ ಗಳ ಇ' ಕಂ )ಾ*+, ೕ)ೈ, ಗಳನು= Nಾರಂ ೕ
, TDS, ADVANCE TAX DETAILS, SELF
ಾ
ASSESSMENT TAX -2
ಾB>ಗಳನು= ಪOೆದು ಆ ೋ ರವ /ೆ
mail , -2 -3
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mail ,
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HC-KAR
NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
5. A perusal of the charge sheet summary would indicate
and except stating that the petitioner /accused no.2 is said to
have sent an email to accused no.3, there is no other
allegation made against the petitioner. In this context, it is
relevant to state that the said allegation regarding the
petitioner sending email to accused no.3 is also not
substantiated nor forthcoming in any of the statement of the
witnesses or the documents produced by the prosecution
during the course of investigation in this regard, which does
not even indicate that the petitioner has sent the email as
alleged against him. In other words so long as no
allegations had been made against the petitioner in the FIR
or complaint coupled with the unsubstantiated allegations
made in the charge sheet without any basis for the alleged
offences punishable under Sections 66B and 66C of the
Information Technology Act, I am of the considered opinion
that the petitioner cannot be held to be guilty for the
aforesaid alleged offences and consequently continuation of
the impugned proceedings qua the petitioner/accused no.2
would amount to abuse of process of law warranting
interference in the present petition.
ORDER
Petition is hereby allowed.
Impugned proceedings in C.C.3171/2018 on the file of
I Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Bengaluru qua the
petitioner/accused no.2 are hereby quashed.”
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CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
4. As can be seen from the aforesaid order passed in
Crl.P.No.2916/2025, this Court has taken note of the fact that
except stating that there was an email sent by accused No.2 to
accused No.3, there was no other allegation made as against
accused No.2 and consequently, quashed the impugned
proceedings and the said order has attained finality and become
conclusive and binding upon the respondents. It is also relevant to
state that the charge sheet summary, which has been extracted in
the aforesaid order would also indicate that except referring to an
alleged e-mail said to have been sent by accused No.2 to accused
No.3, there are no other allegations as against the petitioner-
accused No.3 in the impugned proceedings. In addition thereto,
even the alleged e-mail said to have been sent by accused No.2 to
accused No.3 is not forthcoming, as can be seen from the charge
sheet material.
5. Under these circumstances, in addition to
invoking/applying the doctrine of parity, in the absence of any
allegations made in the complaint, as can be seen from the charge
sheet material which merely refers to an alleged non existent e-
mail said to have been sent by accused No.2 to accused No.3, the
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CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
petitioner herein, I am of the considered opinion that complaint,
FIR, charge sheet material, documents and statements of
witnesses do not disclose any commission of any offence by the
petitioner and consequently, the impugned proceedings qua the
petitioner-accused No.3 deserves to be quashed. It is also
pertinent to note that the petitioner who is arraigned as accused
No.3 is none other than the wife of the original complainant, against
whom she instituted matrimonial proceedings in M.C.No.2030/2010
which was allowed by the Family Court vide judgment and decree
dated 01.04.2021. Viewed from this angle also, merely because a
non-existent email is said to have been sent by accused No.2 to
the petitioner coupled with the fact that the proceedings as against
the petitioner - accused No.2 have already been quashed by this
Court as stated supra , I am of the view that the impugned
proceedings qua petitioner-accused No.3 also deserves to be
quashed.
6. In the result, I pass the following:
ORDER
i) The petition is allowed .
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NC: 2026:KHC:60915
CRL.P No. 1245 of 2026
CNR: KAHC010058922026
ii) The impugned proceedings in C.C.No.3171/2018
(arising out of Crime No.252/2017 registered by
respondent No.1-Police) on the file of the XXXVII
Addl. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Bengaluru
qua the petitioner-accused No.3 are hereby
quashed.
Sd/-
(S.R.KRISHNA KUMAR)
JUDGE
BMC
List No.: 1 Sl No.: 11