What Is Section 85

(1) Where a person committing a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder is a company, every person who, at the time the contravention was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company as well as the company, shall be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to punishment if he proves that the contravention took place without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent such contravention.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where a contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or of any rule, direction or order made thereunder has been committed by a company and it is proved that the contravention has taken place with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of the contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(i) “company” means any body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
(ii) “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.

Also read :- Section 65, Tampering with computer source Documents

Also read :-  Section 66, Hacking with computer systems , Data Alteration

Also read :- What Is Section 67, Publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form

Also read :- Section 69 IT act, Powers to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption.

Also read :- Section 70 of it act, Un-authorized access to protected system.

Important Conditions For Section 85

Section 85 impose two conditions for providing protection against Cyber Crimes which otherwise fall on the organization or any of its employees. The conditions are

The concerned “Intermediary” or the official of the “Company”

a) Should not be aware of the offense.

b) Should have exercised Due Diligence.

Cases Of Section 85

1. Section 85 in The Information Technology Act, 2000.
2. Sanjay Sharma And 2 Ors. vs State Of U.P. And Another on 25 February, 2016.
3. Ekta Kapoor vs State Of M.P. on 11 November, 2020.
4. M/S.Abraham Memorial … vs C.Suresh Babu on 7 August, 2012.
5. Madras High Court M/S.Abraham Memorial … vs C.Suresh Babu on 7 August, 2012.
6. M/S Bloomberg Finance L P vs State Of Karnataka on 15 March, 2013.
7. Odisha Mining Corporation vs State Of Odisha on 26 August, 2019.
8. Ramesh Chandra Kathuria vs State on 24 December, 2019.
9. Aneeta Hada vs M/S Godfather Travels & Tours … on 27 April, 2012.

Also read :- Section 71, Penalty for misrepresentation And Section 72, Breach of confidentiality and privacy

Also read :- Section 73, Publishing False digital signature certificates

Also read :- Section 74, Section 75 and Section 79, Publication for fraudulent purpose

Also read :- Section 77, Compensation, penalties or confiscation not to interfere with other punishment

Also read :- Section 84, 84A, Modes or methods for encryption, 84B, 84C