Adultery is defined as a voluntary sexual intercourse by a married person with a partner other than his/her spouse. The legal definition of adultery varies in different jurisdictions and statutes. Adultery in India is a criminal offence and hence there are provisions related to adultery Indian Penal Code, 1860. Section 497 defines adultery as:

“Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows, or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.”

For instance, if Naina is married to Samar, and Naina has an affair with Kuljeet, then Samar can bring charges against Kuljeet, but Naina will not be charged under this offence.

It is important to lay down an establishment, that from the very onset, this law does not seek to preserve the sanctity of marriage- but it pursue to secure the structure of the institution. In case of V. Revathi v. Union of India, it was held that the man was seducer, not woman. Basically it was said that, Section 497 does not provide any right to the wife to prosecute the husband who has committed adultery with another woman. the above mentioned law is striking in its pursuit to incarcerate only the ‘outsiders’ in the marriage and the community also believes to punish the outsider who breaks into a matrimonial home and violates the sacredness of marriage.
In India, Section 497 of IPC a history of 150-year colonial period and, since from its commencement, it has been spinning into debatable and questionable controversies on several accounts, such as its gender bias approach, questioning equality clause, reflecting cultural conflicts, and strong arguments were raised either for its retention, alteration, or complete modification and deletion from penal statutes.
The object, philosophy and justification of legal regulation of the adulterous behavior of a person in society has been examined appropriately on time scale so as to estimate whether its modification, retention, or deletion is imperative in the contemporary context or otherwise.

History
Incidents related to husbands having illicit affairs with other women and wives cheating behind their husband were not unknown in ancient India. Hinduism never favored Adultery, it was established as a mortal sin. According to Hindus, marriage is a pious and sacred relationship and the sanctity of marriage should be upheld all the times. Infringing the sacred commitment of marriage would lead to ruthless sin and a bad karma.

Hindu law are very strict against adultery, for both moral and social reasons. The ancient Hindu law also categorized the relationships which involved married women from those who are unmarried and the former attracted harsher punishment. There were also different acts for treating adultery, involving different caste of women. Ancient Hindu Society was not free from the obstacle of Adultery. Hindu Mythology illustrated many stories in which god themselves were indulge in adulterous thoughts and action. For instance how Lord Rama banished his wife into forest due to mere allegation of adultery. Manuscript has laid down chapters on the act of adultery. The book explains why adultery occurs, how to secure it and the ruthless punishment for the ones who are caught in such relationships. Centuries ago, this sin was punishable by death, either by public stoning, hanging, or even worse.

When the Indian Penal Code, was drafted Lord Macaulay didn’t approve adultery/ infidelity as a provision in IPC, but in the second report the presidents disfavored Macaulian’s perceptions about adultery and imposed heavy reliance upon his marks and concluded that committing adultery was a heinous crime and the offender will be liable for punishment. Hence, section 497 was instituted in Indian Penal Code.

Immediately after the institution in the Constitution of India, Section 497 Indian Penal Code was impugned on the ground that it usually goes against the spirit of equality inculcated in the Constitution. One of the most controversial cases was in 1951, when Mr Yusuf AbdulAziz, who was charged for adultery, grappled before the Bombay High Court that Section 497 of IPC is unconstitutional as it, in infringement of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, as it operates unequally between a man and a woman by making the former only responsible for adultery. Therefore, he argued, its discrimination in favor of women and against men exclusively on the ground of sex.

In most of the foreign jurisdictions, adultery, exclusively from being a ground for divorce, it has been realize as a criminal wrong against marriage. Coincidentally, in these jurisdictions, both spouses are generally adhered criminally responsible for their extramarital sexual intimacy.

However, the law of adultery in India is commenced on the one and a half century ancient caste- based “social norms” in the reference of the traditional conservative property-oriented familial ideology. It is also pre conceived on a few obsolete and moot assumptions of sexuality, sexual agency and unequal marital rights.

The era of nuclear warfare conceived the idea of a system which could even survive the devastation of nuclear weapons. “A post-apocalypse command grid” was the original idea for Internet -‘Bruce Sterling’ has stated. The idea of ‘internet’ was conceived in the early 60’s while a code for its regulation was mooted in late 90’s . This clearly brings about the reason for the complication of cyber-crime. Cyber-Crime may be said to be an act which violate netesthetics.

INTRODUCTION

The word cyber and its relatives are probably the most commonly used terminologies of the modern era. In the information age the rapid development of computers, telecommunications and other technologies has led to the evolution of new forms of trans-national crimes known as “cyber crimes”. Cyber crimes have virtually no boundaries and may affect every country in the world. They may be defined as “any crime with the help of computer and telecommunication technology”, with the purpose of influencing the functioning of computer or the computer systems.

The extent of loss involved worldwide of cyber crimes is tremendous as it is estimated that about 500 million people who use the Internet can be affected by the emergence of cyber crimes. Cyber crimes are a very serious threat for the times to come and pose one of the most difficult challenges before the law enforcement machinery Most cyber crimes do not involve violence but rather greed, pride, or play on some character weakness of the victims. It is difficult to identify the culprit, as the Net can be a vicious web of deceit and can be accessed from any part of the globe. For these reasons, cyber crimes are considered as “white-collar crimes”. To understand cyber crime as a significantly new phenomenon, with potentially profoundly new consequences, it is necessary to recognize it as a constituent aspect of the wider political, social and economic reconstructing currently effecting countries worldwide. This new technology not only provides opportunities for the profitable development of an international information market but has also raised the specter of new criminal activities to exploit them.

The very technology that enables multinationals to do business more effectively and challenge the individual controls and regulations of nation states, also offers the prospect of globally organized criminal networks. Moreover the free flow of uncensored information on electronic networks and web- sites is as attractive to insurgents and extremist groups as it is to dissidents proclaiming their human rights. Just as crimes have changed with the growth of information technology so have the categories of criminals who engage in such crimes. There are three basic categories of criminals who engage in such crimes, ranging from hackers, information merchants and mercenaries, to terrorists, extremists and deviants.

 Now speaking about the types of cyber crimes, there are divided mainly in four types; Financial, Privacy, Hacking and Cyber Terrorism. Financial crimes means the steal of money of the user or account holders. Likewise, the stole data of companies which leads the financial crimes. Secondly, Privacy crimes includes stealing the private data which leads to ruin the people and let them suffer by misusing their personal data. In, hacking they intentional deface a website to cause damage or loose to the public or owner and diminish its values. Here last but not least the cyber terrorism is not related to terrorist or its organizations but to threat someone on level of creating fear is also the same.

To conclude, we can say that cyber crimes is a violation of not law but the human rights too and to avoid that all we need is some common sense and logical precautions.

Advancement in technology led to the emergence of social media platforms. It has facilitated sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression. Communication can be done at a faster pace as people living far away are linked to each other through social media platforms and it takes hardly a few seconds to connect to anyone around the globe.

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY:

1. A boon in crisis
2. Aid for solving crimes
3. Form of political influence
4. Revolution in brand making
5. Curbs distance

SOCIAL IMPACTS:

1. Disparity
2. Political polarization
3. Physical and mental health
4. Stereotyping
5. Sleep disturbances
6. Adolescents
7. Effects on youth communication
8. Changes in mood

POSITIVE SIDES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

1. We can keep in touch with friends in today’s busy world.
2. We can improve ourselves by sharing our ideas, information and knowledge with those, who have same interests, even if they are so many miles away from us.
3. Teachers and professors are making groups on SNS to extend classroom discussion, to post assignments, tests & quizzes and to assist students with homework.
4. Many companies are developing interactive communities that connect individuals to share business needs & experiences.
5. Students are connecting with employers via LinkedIn kind of SNS for job opportunities and internships.
6. We can find our friends easily, if we lost contact.
7. Generally social networking sites have a positive atmosphere. For example, Facebook doesn’t send notification, if someone is removed as a friend. So there is a least chance for the person to know that.

NEGATIVE SIDES:

1. People are increasingly comparing their lives with others that are projecting their life as perfect. This decreases happiness levels and also can lead to self-esteem issues.
2. Privacy is a big drawback of SMS. Some people are using other person’s personal information for malicious intentions.
3. Addiction is another big drawback of SMS.
4. Lot of SMS users are preferring online conversation rather than face-to-face. It’ll effect communication skills, relationships and even mental health.
5. There is a high risk for children and teenagers from cyber stalking.
6. Gossips and rumors spread soon.
7. Spending in front of computer for long hours creates many health problems.

Advantages for Teenagers:

a)      Comfortable way of communication for shy teens. This can boost their self-esteem and confidence.

b)      Social media gives teens with unusual interest and hobbies a place to share information and enthusiasm.

c)      Social media helps them to enrich and manage their social lives.

d)      Teens who are differently able and have other challenges can communicate with other teens with similar problems.

 Disadvantages for Teenagers:

a)      Online bullying and harassment which is also known as Cyber-bullying may be the biggest danger for teens.

b)      Online predators, it is basically an online sex crime against minors.

c)      Less interaction with friends and family.

Advantages for students:

a)      Students can produce and retain information.

b)      Social media offers lots of opportunities for learning and interaction.

c)      Students are getting to explore and experience the world not only by books and assignments; but also by adapting social media.

d)      In today’s world; contacts, networks and communications are very important; students who are accessing Facebook, twitter and other such social networking site to connect and share information have good contacts.

        Disadvantages for students:

a)      Social media can be a very distracting and harmful for students.

b)      Students share personal information, comment on someone’s post which may be harmful for them.

c)      Always glued with their mobiles, tablets, computer which is a wastage of time and may spoil their performance.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) is a law enacted by the Parliament of India “to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens.” The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir – which is covered under a State-level law. Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen (excluding the citizens within J&K) may request information from a “public authority” (a body of Government or “instrumentality of State”) which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 13 October 2005. Information disclosure in India was hitherto restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act now relaxes.

Right to information under constitution and its exception
The right to information movement in India began with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) movement to bring in transparency in village accounts through the demand for minimum wages in rural India. False entries in wage rolls were a sign of increasing corruption in the system, which encouraged MKSS to demand official information recorded in government files.

The constitution of India does not clearly provide Right to information. However, the Apex court of the country held in several cases that Right to information is concern with the Article 19 (1)(a) and Article 21 of the Indian constitution which states freedom of expression and speech and Right to life and personal liberty respectively. In other words we can say that it (Right to information) protect the very purpose of the such Articles. Article 19 and Article 21 comes under part 3 of the constitution which is the fundamental Rights of Indian constitution. In this way we can say that Right to Information might be considered as fundamental right of the constitution.

Article 19 of the Constitution of India talks about rights and in Art.19 (1) (a) we have the Freedom of Speech. This Freedom not only extends to the right of expressing the views freely but also the right to know. This right to know also has some limitations to it, for say, information of national security or any other matter which would affect the nation’s integrity. But if contains information for example related to sanitation then it is not a matter of national security and the public has the right to know why such information is with held.

Citizens have a right to know about government affairs. But the right is not absolute; secrecy can be legitimately claimed in respect of transactions with repercussion on public security. In other words, the information which is not in the interest of the public or country cannot be disclosed at any circumstances. Sec.8 of the Right to information Act, 2005 is concerns with the same. In the case of Prabha dutt v. Union of India, the Apex court ordered the superintendent of the Tihar jail to allow the representatives of a few news paper to interview two death sentence culprit under Article 19 (1)(a) though with the observation that the right under Article 19(1)(a) “is not an absolute right, nor indeed does it confer any right on the press to have an unrestricted access to means of information’’. This position has been reiterated in subsequent cases. The right to information was regularly recognized by the court in a number of cases as it is concern with freedom of speech and expression in Article 19(1)(a) until finally it was incorporated in the right to information Act, 2005 and give ultimate mechanism for its utilization.

Right to information Act, 2005 and its exception
The right to information bill was passed by Lok Sabah on 11th may 2005 and by Raj Sabah on 12th may 2005 and took the assent of president on 15th June 2005. It has come as statue book Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of 2005). It was enacted to provide transparency and accountability of the sovereign authority to the people. Under this Act an individual can make an application to get the information from the public authority. It aids to check the working system of the government. In the democracy of India, where its citizens play a very crucial role, it is very necessary to provide them adequacy, transparency and accountability of the government. Now the question arises is that, is the individual has the right to get any information from public authority? Article 19 (1)(a) (which is a fundamental right) implicit or concern with the right to information but Article 19 (2) of the constitution also states that if the disclosed information affects the integrity or security of the country then government can impose restriction on such sub clause. In other word, a citizen can get the information to the extent which does not affect the secrecy and dignity of the country. So right to information is not an absolute right. Section 8 of the Right to Information Act concerned with the exemption from disclosure of information. It states that any information which affect country’s integrity, security, strategic, scientific economic interest of the state which lead to incitement of an offence and contempt of the court of law, breach of privilege of parliament and state legislature, information regarding trade secret; the disclosure of which would harm the competitive of third party, information received in confidence with foreign government, information related to personal life of individual which has not related to any public interest or activity shall not any obligation to the public authority to be disclosed. Because of such exception it is said that Right to information does not provide absolute right.

Ambiguity and Obstacles
Right to information has also ambiguity. Section 22 of the Right to Information Act 2005 provides that it is to have overriding effect over inconsistent legislation or rules. The Official Secrets Act, 1923, a legacy of British rule in India, contains several provisions prohibiting the flow of information from the Government to ordinary people. It was enacted to protect against spying, but its provisions are far-reaching. They serve not only to restrict access to information, but also to punish the disclosure of certain sorts of information, by any person. Sections 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 also impose unnecessary restrictions on making available official information as evidence. The Act is designed as per the state level also. Different states have different rules which create the ambiguity.

Right to information had provided an awesome right to the citizen of India. But still there is not sufficient awareness of the people among their rights. On the other hand the fee structure is also not so favorable. It creates obstacle to achieve the very purpose of the Act or fundamental right