Political Campaign Ideas Sourced From Public Records Cannot Qualify As Theft Of Intellectual Property: Patna High Court Quashes FIR Against Prashant Kishor
The Court held that absent exclusive statutory rights over publicly sourced data, a civil dispute cannot be given a criminal colour to invoke penal law.
The Patna High Court has quashed a First Information Report (FIR) filed against Prashant Kishor alleging theft of intellectual property, cheating, and forgery. The Court held that an idea, subject matter, theme, or derivative compilation drawing heavily from public records like census reports and economic surveys cannot be protected under IPC as intellectual property without valid statutory registration.
The Court observed that the phrase 'intellectual property' cannot be used as an incantation to invoke criminal law when the informant has already preferred a concurrent civil action on the exact same subject matter.
Justice Sandeep Kumar observed, “…The analogy drawn by the informant with respect to the academic thesis drawing from several published sources is also, in the considered opinion of this Court, not of any consequence since a doctoral candidate develops a novel hypothesis and generates a fresh analysis and thereafter prepares data and analysis which is also fixed by the unique expression of the author. A derivative work drawing heavily from the public sources such as census reports and economic surveys does not and could not qualify for the protection as asserted by the informant. It is already crystallised that there can be no copyright in an idea, subject matter or themes. The informant can not use the phrase ‘intellectual property’ as an incantation to invoke the rigours of criminal law”.
Advocate Eashita Raj appeared for the petitioner and M. Nasrul Huda Khan, S.C.-1 appeared for the respondent.
The informant, Shashwat Gautam, alleged that while preparing a data-driven election campaign named Bihar Ki Baat, a political activist, Osama Khurshid, absconded with an office laptop containing campaign designs, workflow, algorithms, and socio-economic data. It was alleged that Khurshid acted on the directions of election consultant Prashant Kishor, who subsequently launched a highly similar campaign titled Baat Bihar Ki using the website www.baatbiharki.in.
The petitioner invoked Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India seeking to quash an FIR registered under Sections 467, 468, 471, 420, 406, and 120-B IPC. Concurrently, the informant had also filed a civil title suit concerning the same dispute.
The Court noted that the essential ingredients of forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust were completely absent. No false document was made to satisfy Section 464, nor was there any inception-stage deception or dishonest inducement to deliver property under Section 420.
Crucially, the concept notes and algorithms stored on the laptop were incorporeal in nature and not registered under the Copyright Act, 1957. Since the underlying political campaign data was drawn from publicly available government records, it lacked statutory exclusivity or unique artistic expression.
“Further, from reading of the F.I.R., it appears that nowhere it suggests that any copyright was created for aforesaid campaign, designs, workflow and the algorithms in favour of the informant. The concept note, campaign design, workflow or algorithms prepared by the informant and stored on his laptop are incorporeal in nature and as such, de hors a specific legal fiction and therefore, no offence of theft is made out”, it observed.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ petition and quashed the impugned FIR along with all consequential proceedings arising therefrom.
Cause Title: Prashant Kishor v. The State of Bihar & Ors. Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.271 of 2020
Appearances:
Petitioner: Eashita Raj and Anuj Kumar, Advocates.
Respondent: M. Nasrul Huda Khan, S.C., Harun Quareshi, A.C. to S.C.-1, Sangeet Deokuliar and Akhilesh Kumar, Advocates.