skills/c4-fake-trading-app-investigator/references/india-legal-verification.md

# India legal verification protocol

This is a verification workflow, not a static opinion. Laws, schedules, notifications, State/UT rules, and judicial interpretation may change.

## Required context before mapping

Record the date or range of each alleged act, date of discovery/reporting, State/UT and relevant locations, place of communication and payment, victim and suspected actor locations if known, affected systems, and whether conduct continued across 1 July 2024.

## Official source starting points

- Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/20062
- Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/20099
- Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/20063
- Information Technology Act, 2000: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/15442

Use the current India Code act page and linked Gazette/notification text. Record URL, access date, enactment version, section text reviewed, schedule entry, amendments, commencement, and applicable local rules.

## Temporal caution

The BNS, BNSS, and BSA generally commenced on 1 July 2024, subject to notifications, exceptions, territorial provisions, and savings. For earlier or continuing conduct, examine the relevant repeal/savings and transition provisions and obtain legal review before choosing between new and repealed enactments. Do not select a statute based only on the FIR or report date.

## Candidate issue prompts

Depending on proven facts, review—not automatically apply—issues such as cheating and dishonest inducement, personation, criminal breach of trust, forgery or use of false documents, conspiracy/common intention, identity theft, cheating by personation using a computer resource, unauthorized access or damage, privacy/confidentiality offences, money laundering or proceeds-of-crime referral, deposit/securities/payment regulation, and State-specific investor or deposit-protection law.

Common starting points may include BNS section 318 and IT Act sections 66C/66D, but section numbers must never substitute for an element analysis. Other provisions require facts that may not exist in a given case.

## Element-mapping method

For each candidate provision:

1. quote or closely paraphrase only the minimum current element needed;
2. cite the official URL and verification date;
3. identify evidence supporting each element;
4. identify missing, contradictory, or inadmissibility-sensitive facts;
5. check territorial, temporal, sanction, schedule, and procedural questions;
6. label the outcome `supported for review`, `partially supported`, or `not presently supported`; and
7. state `candidate — verify with IO/legal reviewer`.

Do not conclude that an FIR must be registered, that an offence is cognizable/bailable, or that a particular coercive power is available without current procedural and schedule verification. BNSS section 173 is a relevant official starting point for information concerning cognizable offences; State/UT procedure and current text still require verification.

## Electronic evidence

Review the current BSA provisions governing electronic/digital records, including sections 61–63 and the applicable certificate form/schedule, where relevant. Evidence collection and reporting should preserve originals, provenance, system/device context, and competent-person details, but the skill must not assert that a certificate is sufficient or that evidence is admissible. Obtain forensic and legal review.