Asokan v. Victim
In the High Court of Kerala
Crl. M.C. 8128/2018
Before Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V.
Decided on December 10, 2018

Relevancy of the case: Quashing after the settlement between parties in a case involving sexual assault and an attempt to commit suicide

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Sections 34, 292(2), 354, 506)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 482)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• In the present case, there are three accused.
• The first accused enticed the respondent (the de facto complainant) to a lodge where the victim was sexually assaulted.
• The first accused recorded explicit photographs and threatened to disseminate them if she disclosed the incident to a third person.
• The second accused received the memory card (containing the pictures) and assigned the work of copying the explicit material to the first petitioner in this case.
• The first petitioner along with the third accused allegedly disseminated the contents of the memory card to several others. This traumatising act against the victim caused the victim to attempt suicide.
• In a case filed against the accused persons, the first accused did not appear before the Court despite the receipt of summons.
• The present petition is filed in order to quash the proceedings on the ground that, the dispute is settled between the victim and the accused persons.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the victim filed an affidavit against the continuance of the proceedings as it was affecting her family life. Also, she held no grievances against the accused.

Opinion of the Bench

• The Court observed that, the offence cannot be considered as grave and has no serious impact on the society. According to the guidelines given in Gian Singh v. State of Punjab and in Narinder Singh v. State of Punjab, quashing proceedings for peace was held valid. Further, the Court opined that as the prospects for conviction are brief it would be a waste of time if the proceedings were not quashed.

Final Decision

• Petition accepted.
• Proceedings quashed.

This case summary has been prepared by Shubhangi Gehlot, an undergraduate student at Law Faculty, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2021.