CRIMINAL LITIGATIONS

Ms. Nappinai’s expertise and proficiency in Criminal Litigation is reflected in her lasting reputation from her early days of practise at the Madras Bar and thereafter in succession at the Bombay Bar and now before the Supreme Court. She is Advisor – Maharashtra Cyber police for policies and investigations. Ms. Nappinai has lent her expertise in supporting the cause of enforcement in cybercrime cases since about 2003, with her continued training and capacity building initiatives for police and thereafter for judiciary.

She is reputed for her intense commitment to honesty and integrity in the handling of Criminal cases and advocacy and strategy skills in representing and handling several complex cases with especially those pertaining to white collar offences / corporate crime and fraud cases and cybercrime cases. She commenced with her internship under the tutelage of Shri. N. T. Vanamamalai, a renowned Senior Counsel at the Madras High Court and enrolled in 1991 and commenced practise with specialisation and focus on Criminal laws in 1991. Ms. Nappinai continued to lend her expertise in corporate criminal cases / cases of white collar offences during her brief stint with the law firm Amarchand Mangaldas Suresh A. Shroff & Co., (Advocates & Solicitors), (as it then was) and continued to represent and advise them as counsel thereafter for a few years in several large and complex cases including for international and renowned Indian corporate houses in landmark cases of initiation of Criminal prosecutions against Managing Directors of a large business house and also in cases arising out of inter se family disputes, which resulted in the breaking up of an empire through settlement between parties. Ms. Nappinai continues to strongly propagate the strong principles imbibed from her seniors Shri. N. T. Vanamamalai and Shri. V. Gopinath, Senior Counsels, for practise of Criminal law with honesty and integrity and without shortcuts.

Whilst she has handled standard criminal cases including very intricate prosecutions in double murder trials, she carved a niche for her expertise in representing in cases pertaining to Corporate Criminal / White collar offences and Intellectual Property Rights enforcements and prosecutions. Her expertise in IPR cases led in fact to her interest and evolution as a pioneer in cyber laws since about 1995. Ms. Nappinai is now reputed for her handling of prosecutions and defence of cybercrime cases.

Ms. Nappinai has handled cases, mostly for defence but also in several cases for initiation of prosecution, involving high stakes, including the following:
• Successfully initiating prosecution against a Managing Director of one of India’s top corporate houses for corporate fraud, circular transactions and siphoning of money;
• Representing in the formulation of Criminal complaints for initiation of prosecution, on behalf of one of the parties in a large family conglomerate dispute, which was subsequently settled through a family settlement;
• Defending Criminal prosecutions initiated against well-known and renowned stock brokers & financial experts;
• Defending prosecutions against a large commodities exchange and its directors;
• Defending prosecutions against companies for alleged Corporate Frauds, where the entire business models have been challenged;
• Prosecutions and Defence of cases initiated by Government authorities including Enforcement Directorate; Economic Offences Wing; CBI; CB-CID and other law enforcement agencies in cases ranging from alleged: corporate takeovers / ousting of managements through fraudulent means; investor fraud; money laundering; Prevention of Corruption Cases; Income Tax evasions; Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954; Drugs & Magic Remedies Act, 1954;
• Prosecutions in cases of Siphoning of funds / business / or both, by Directors / Senior Management;
• Prosecutions in cases of Circular transactions & siphoning of funds; fudging of accounts or other Criminal actions leading to loss of profits and business for corporate entities;

In addition to the above, which is an indicative list of the several innumerable cases handled by Ms. Nappinai in her career spanning decades, she has successfully handled prosecution and defence in cybercrime cases since about 2003, including the following:
• Successfully advised and handled initiation of prosecution for a foreign client to stop an online scam initiated in India in the name of the foreign entity;
• Successfully handled several cases for corporates in job offer scams;
• Successfully handled prosecutions in phishing and vishing scams;
• Represented in one of the earliest cases of alleged data theft in 2004 and successfully defended attempts at initiation of false prosecution against an employee;
• Successfully defended consortium partners in inter se copyright disputes spilling over to Criminal and civil litigations including in online auction technology development and implementation;
• Successfully defended initiation of prosecution against senior management in a case registered against a company for alleged huge online fraud and scam;
• Represented successfully in defending prosecution initiated for theft of software and source codes on behalf of a multi-national company;
• Represented a post-production company to prosecute use of circumvention techniques and data breaches resulting in copyright violations;
• Successfully handled cases for movie production houses in protecting their IPR and advising on online protection of IP rights including copyright & trademark rights;
• Represented a software company in the earliest case for prosecuting use of Trademarks, illegally in metatags and deep linking;
• Represented also in successfully defending accused to contest prosecutions for alleged data theft and breach of trust, especially in cases initiated by competitors and former employers, after inordinate delay and pursuant to visible success of former employees or their companies;
• Represented and advised in commencement of prosecution in foreign cases of data theft and cyber security breaches;
• Handle prosecutions of several cases of blatant breach of trust and confidentiality plus wholesale theft of data and migration of business, clients / customers and employees to create competing businesses, resulting in loss and damage to companies running to several million dollars;
• Handled initiation of prosecutions successfully against scams on international clients through fraudulent breach of contract and siphoning of products / materials to negate enforcement of contracts;
• Successfully defended continuation of prosecution against online offenders for online cyber bullying and trolling;
• Successfully thwarted threats and stifling of prosecution during the #MeToo movement and supported and helped victims;

Ms. Nappinai propounds the cause for speedy and effective enforcement in Criminal matters. She believes that delays in concluding Criminal cases will negatively impact the very core of societal living and the need for laws and enforcement to be the bedrocks that guarantee individual safety and security. The very systemic failure in speedy and effective handling of Criminal prosecutions amount to a grave violation of Article 21 of India’s Constitution and breaches the fundamental guarantee of right to life and liberties.

Ms. Nappinai has drawn on these fundamental beliefs to support safe cities and online safety to ensure equal spaces and equality both in the physical and virtual worlds. Her writings point to the pitfalls and limitations in present systems and enforcement mechanisms, that fail to prevent or protect victims either in the physical or virtual worlds. Her work as Amicus Curiae before the Supreme Court and also in various Government Committees and her writings have carried forward the strong message for effective and pre-emptive protections for women and children particularly on digital domains, which lend themselves to much more abuse.

Ms. Nappinai lends her time and expertise in the field of Criminal laws honed from her internship period to her practise and specialisation since 1991 not only in fighting cases initiated by or against Corporates and business houses but also for social causes in protecting the rights of individuals in general and that of women and children, in particular.

Her recent initiative Cyber Saathi (www.cybersaathi.org) is meant to provide credible and reliable information on cyberlaws and to prevent commission of cybercrimes through awareness and to give initial guidance to victims and to lend courage and confidence in them through the assurance that they are not alone and that they do have and ought to seek remedies in law. Ms. Nappinai’s Cyber Saathi initiative is holistic and addresses preventive and protective measures; effective enforcement mechanism and also guides evolution of policies and legislations in the field of cyber laws and emerging technologies, through her research papers. Ms. Nappinai will continue to lend her expertise in Criminal laws and cyber laws including electronic evidence – appreciation, in training judges and police. (“Presentations”) – Bharat – PL provide the link to the Presentations page here)
Some of her articles available in public domain pertaining to Criminal jurisprudence are listed hereunder:
• “Too Early for Revelry for Crypto Enthusiasts”, N. S. Nappinai (2020) – Published by CNBC TV 18;
(https://www.cnbctv18.com/legal/too-early-for-revelry-for-crypto-enthusiasts-5495701.htm);
• “Rethinking Social Media – Through The Prism Of Freedoms, Liberties & Democracy”, N. S. Nappinai (2020) – Published in the Festschrift Book for Nani Palkivala titled “Essays & Reminiscences”. Published by LexisNexis;
• “Indian Women must get justice and it must be timely. But vigilantism is anathema to both justice and democracy”- Times of India – 2019 (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/indian-women-must-get-justice-and-it-must-be-timely-but-vigilantism-is-anathema-to-both-justice-and-democracy/);
• “Liberty, Democracy and Social Media, Nappinai NS in DemocraShe”- She The People- 2019; (https://www.shethepeople.tv/top-stories/issues/liberty-democracy-and-social-media-nappinai-ns-in-democrashe);
• “Software Piracy” – Manual for Judicial Training – Authored by N. S. Nappinai – 2016;
• “Electronic Evidence – The Great Indian Quagmire” – Supreme Court Cases – 2019 ((2019) 3 SCC J-41);
• “#MeToo for corporate world” – DNA – 2018; (https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-metoo-for-corporate-world-2686760);
• “Tackling Women’s Freedom and Unfreedom online- through law and Technology”- IT For Change – 2018;
• “Bitcoins and the cryptocurrency conundrum; Budget tries to provide an answer but falls short of definitive stand”- The Times of India – 2018; (https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/bitcoins-and-the-cryptocurrency-conundrum-budget-tries-to-provide-an-answer-but-falls-short-of-definitive-stand/);
• “Understanding hacking from a legal point of view”- The Livemint- 2017
(http://www.livemint.com/Technology/niYSp2AfvmF0EKHfzwpIwN/Understanding-hacking-from-a-legal-point-of-view.html);
• “Cyber Laws Part I: How internet has become a crime scene” – The Economic Times – 2017 (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/no-one-is-safe-how-internet-has-become-a-playground-for-cyber-criminals/articleshow/61418856.cms);
• “Cyber Laws Part II: A guide for victims of cybercrime” – The Economic Times – 2017 (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/do-you-know-how-to-report-a-cyber-crime-heres-a-guide-for-victims/articleshow/61464084.cms);
• “Dark Side of IoT” – Computer Law Review International (CRi), Europe – 2017 (https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/cri.2017.18.issue-2/cri-2017-0204/cri-2017-0204.xml);
• “India Stirred & Shaken” – On Demonetization & Perils of Digital Currencies – 2016 (https://thewire.in/85975/india-digital-payment/);
• “Sedition – Time for new laws to shield free speech” Times of India – 2016 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sedition-Time-for-new-laws-to-shield-free-speech/articleshow/51017910.cms);
• “Death of Satire: Roasters Roasted” – Times of India – 2016 (http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=COMMENT-Death-of-satire-Roasters-roasted-19012016019025#);
• “Its Time to Herald Changes” – Point of View on the National Herald Case – Times of India – 2015 (http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=POINT-OF-VIEW-ITS-TIME-TO-HERALD-CHANGES-15122015014061#);
• “Privacy as a Fundamental Right – In Grave Peril” – The Wire – 2015 (http://thewire.in/2015/10/07/our-fundamental-right-to-privacy-is-in-grave-peril-12571/);
• “Hate Speech & Holy Cows” – Times of India – 2015 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Hurt-sentiments-no-ground-for-violence/articleshow/49202127.cms);
• “Not just about Porn – Its About Government Acting Responsibly” – Times of India – 2015 (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Not-just-about-porn-its-about-govt-acting-responsibly-in-applying-laws/articleshow/48352622.cms);
• “Civilization Hanging By A Thread” – The Wire – 2015 (http://thewire.in/2015/07/30/civilisation-hanging-by-a-thread-7591/);
• “Gross Misuse of the IT Act” – The Wire – 2015 (http://thewire.in/2015/07/14/mumbai-polices-gross-misuse-of-the-it-act/);
• “Of Bails & Bonds” – Perspective in the light of Kejriwal Bail issue – firstpost.com – 2014 (http://m.firstpost.com/india/did-magistrate-errkejriwal-bailbond-case-absolutely-not-1544877.html);
• “Cybercrime Law in India: Has Law kept pace with emerging trends? An Empirical Study”- Hein Online- 2010 (https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/jcolate5&div=5&id=&page=)
• “Decrypting Encryption Laws of India” – International Association of IT Lawyers – 2010;
• “Information Technology Amendments – Overview” – Manupatra Newsline – 2009;
• “Data Theft – A Persisting Corporate Nemesis” – Manupatra Newsline – 2008;
• “Trademarks – A Virtual Reality”: Bombay Chamber of Commerce – 2008;
• “Data Protection & Privacy – The Indian Paradigm”: published in English & Japanese on the Website e-chishiki.com & in the Japanese publication “Rainbow Bridge” – 2008;
• “Data Protection & the (Indian) Information Technology Act” – published in the World Internet Law Reporter;
• “Is theft a Crime?” – an article on data theft under Indian Cyber Law, published in the Economic Times (a leading Indian Financial Newspaper);
• “Witness Protection & the Law” – published in Manupatra;
• “Gender Justice & the Law” – For a Corporate Publication;