New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings against a former Chief Executive Officer of Bharti Airtel, who was implicated following a lawyer’s complaint about receiving “obscene” messages on his Airtel number.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said, “Mobile service providers, in cases like this, are themselves victims of cybercrime. Such incidents may deter potential customers and prompt existing users to discontinue services.
The Bench quashed the proceedings against the CEO questioning the rationale behind holding a corporate executive responsible for such actions.
The Bench however kept the FIR intact solely for further investigation to identify the persons or agencies responsible for sending the objectionable messages.
The Court quashed the FIR and all the proceedings arising therefrom.
The Bench said, “The FIR is kept intact with a direction to the Central Crime Branch, Cyber Crime Cell, Chennai, to investigate further and, if possible, trace out the persons/agencies responsible for sending the alleged obscene messages,” the bench observed.
The Supreme Court criticized the Madras High Court’s earlier decision, which had dismissed the petitioner’s plea to quash the criminal proceedings. It remarked on the absence of a prima facie link between the CEO and the alleged offence, questioning the rationale behind holding a corporate executive responsible for such actions.
“The High Court failed to apply its mind to assess how the Chief Executive Officer of the mobile service provider could be held responsible for sending undesirable messages to the complainant.
The local police also abdicated its duty by failing to investigate and identify the source of such messages,” the court noted.
The bench further highlighted that Bharti Airtel, too, was a victim of cybercrime, as such incidents could potentially harm its reputation and business by discouraging prospective customers or causing existing customers to terminate their services.
“Mobile service providers, in cases like this, are themselves victims of cybercrime. Such incidents may deter potential customers and prompt existing users to discontinue services,” the court observed.
Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal, representing the petitioner, urged the court to entirely close the matter and not keep the FIR alive for further investigation. He argued that the messages in question were promotional posters (such as movie advertisements) sent by third-party service providers, and further probing could unnecessarily reopen the issue.
However, counsel for the respondent countered by highlighting Airtel’s revenue-sharing agreements with SMS and MMS service providers, suggesting the telecom company should bear responsibility for controlling such content.
The bench questioned the legality of allowing obscene content within such agreements, but Aggarwal emphasized that, as an intermediary under the Information Technology Act, Airtel was protected under the safe harbor clause and was not required to monitor content proactively.
The case arose from a complaint by advocate VK Suresh, an Airtel prepaid subscriber, who alleged that he had received obscene messages on his Airtel number.
Acting on his complaint, the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Tamil Nadu directed the registration of an FIR against the CEO of Bharti Airtel, Tamil Nadu Circle, under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code.
The petitioner initially sought relief from the Madras High Court under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, but the plea was dismissed because a prima facie case existed.
Subsequently, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court, which has now provided relief by quashing the criminal proceedings against him while allowing further investigation to trace the actual perpetrators.
