Computer Related Offences: Section 66

In one line

Section 66 makes any act referred to in section 43 an offence if it is done dishonestly or fraudulently, and it says nothing else at all.

The section

66. Computer related offences. If any person, dishonestly or fraudulently, does any act referred to in section 43, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees or with both.

Explanation. For the purposes of this section, (a) the word "dishonestly" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 24 of the Indian Penal Code; (b) the word "fraudulently" shall have the meaning assigned to it in section 25 of that Code.

Three structural features.

It borrows its conduct entirely. The offence has no actus reus of its own. Whatever section 43 lists, section 66 punishes when the mental element is present. Chapter 1100.

It adds one mental element in the alternative. Dishonestly or fraudulently. Either will do.

And that is the whole section. Everything else must be found in section 43 or in the imported definitions.

What the two words mean

The Explanation points at the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which was repealed on 1 July 2024 by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The definitions are re-enacted, so the substance is unchanged and the reference is read accordingly by section 8 of the General Clauses Act, 1897.

"Dishonestly", section 24 of the Penal Code, now section 2(7) of the Sanhita: doing anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another person.

And the two limbs of that, section 2(36) and 2(37) of the Sanhita: wrongful gain is gain by unlawful means of property to which the person gaining is not legally entitled; wrongful loss is loss by unlawful means of property to which the person losing it is legally entitled.

"Fraudulently", section 25 of the Penal Code, now section 2(9) of the Sanhita: doing anything with the intention to defraud but not otherwise.

The difference between them, which is the examinable part.

Dishonesty is about property. It requires an intention to cause a gain or a loss of property by unlawful means. So a person who deletes another's data to cause economic loss acts dishonestly.

Fraud is about deception. The classic exposition is that fraud requires deceit and either an injury or a risk of injury to the person deceived, and the injury need not be pecuniary. So a person who obtains access by pretending to be someone else acts fraudulently whether or not any property moves.

Why both are needed. Many acts under section 43 involve no property at all: disrupting a service, denying access, altering information. Dishonesty may be hard to establish where nothing of value moves; fraud reaches deception without gain. Together they cover the field, and the section is satisfied if either is present.