Delhi court rules missing phone no bar to framing charges in CSAM case

A Delhi court has upheld the framing of charges against a man accused of uploading child sexual abuse material on Facebook, ruling that the non-recovery of the mobile phone allegedly used in the offence does not block prosecution when digital evidence links the accused to the account.

Additional Sessions Judge Hargurvarinder Singh Jaggi dismissed a revision petition by Aditya Biswas, who challenged a trial court order directing charges under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act. The court stated: 'The physical recovery of a mobile phone is not an absolute sine qua non for framing a charge when the digital trail, particularly IP logs and subscriber data, securely links the transmission to the accused's control over the social media account.'

The case stems from a December 2022 FIR by the South Delhi cyber police based on a CyberTipline report from the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. Prosecutors said a Facebook account named 'Neem Biswas' uploaded a 17-second video of a child in a sexually explicit act, traced via an IP address and mobile number. The accused argued the CyberTipline report was hearsay as no Facebook or NCMEC official was examined, and no phone was recovered from him.