Whether S 79 of Information Technology Act will provide protection to accused under NDPS Act?

We thus find that the appellant and his associates were not innocent intermediaries or network service providers as defined under Section 79 of the Technology Act but the said business was only a fagade and camouflage for more sinister activity. In this situation, Section 79 will not grant immunity to an accused who has violated the provisions of the Act as this provision gives immunity from prosecution for an offence only under Technology Act itself.

10. We are therefore of the opinion that in the face of overwhelming inculpatory evidence it is not possible to give the finding envisaged under Section 37 of the Act for the grant of bail that there were reasonable grounds for believing that the appellant was not guilty of the offence alleged, or that he would not resume his activities should bail be granted.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

Criminal Appeal No. 1659 of 2007 

Decided On: 03.12.2007

 Sanjay Kumar Kedia Vs.  Narcotics Control Bureau and Ors.

Hon'ble Judges/Coram:

S.B. Sinha and H.S. Bedi, JJ.

Citation: (2008) 2 SCC 294

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Who are Intermediary as per information technology Act?

S 2 [(w) “intermediary”, with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that record or provides any service with respect to that record and includes telecom service providers, network service providers, internet service providers, web-hosting service providers, search engines, online payment sites, online-auction sites, online-market places and cyber cafes;]

Subs. by Act 10 of 2009, S. 4 (w.e.f. 27-10-2009). Prior to substitution it read as:

‘(w) “intermediary” with respect to any particular electronic message means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or provides any service with respect to that message;’

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