Gangaraju v. State of Andhra Pradesh
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Crl. P. 7854/2022
Before Justice K. Sreenivasa Reddy
Decided on October 07, 2022

Relevancy of the Case: Maintainability of anticipatory bail application in a case involving the creation of a fake account on social media

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66C)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 509, 354D)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 438)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The complainant is a dental doctor. The petitioners are accused of creating a fake email ID in the complainant’s name.
• The petitioners also claimed that if a payment of ₹30,000 is made to an examiner, he would pass all the students in the exam. Otherwise, he would fail them.
• They also created a fake girlfriend, apparently working as a junior doctor, to the complainant.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the police added Section 354D, which is not maintainable in the present situation.
• The Assistant Public Prosecutor opposed the petition.

Opinion of the Bench

• All the offences in the present case are bailable.
• As such, the maintainability of anticipatory bail under Section 438 does not arise.

Final Decision

• The bench disposed of the petition.

Aparna Ajay, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2023.