Deepu S. S. v. State of Kerala
In the High Court of Kerala
B.A. 6652/2018
Before Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V
Decided on November 26, 2018

Relevancy of the case: Anticipatory bail application for forwarding private pictures to the complainant’s relatives

Statutes and Provisions Involved

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

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The respondent met the applicant through Facebook. They were good friends and used to travel together.
• She went to Coimbatore with the applicant where they stayed together for 4 days. He allegedly sexually abused her and took her photographs during the stay.
• She did not report it immediately due to the fear that it would affect her future. But soon, the applicant started harassing her and she refused to pay heed to his untenable demands. Hence, he allegedly forwarded the photographs to her near relatives, including her brother.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the allegations were not true. The respondent and the petitioner were close friends and the photographs were taken while they were staying together.
• The respondent’s counsel argued that the applicant spared no effort to destroy the future of the respondent and has forwarded certain explicit photographs of the victim to various persons.

Opinion of the Bench

• The court directed the applicant to surrender before the investigating officer or approach the court having jurisdiction to seek regular bail.

Final Decision

• Application dismissed.

This case summary has been prepared by Ria Verma, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Noida, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.