Kuthbudeen v. State
In the High Court of Madras
Crl. O.P. (MD) 9110/2017
Before Justice A M Basheer Ahamed
Decided on October 05, 2017

Relevancy of the case: Anticipatory bail application for an offence under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66A)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 153A)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 438)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner is accused of posting a picture on Facebook on April 10, 2017 along with ‘Bharatha Matha’ holding a national flag in her hand in an indecent or naked manner.
• She was standing on a lotus flower which would lead to religious riots between the Hindus and non-Hindus.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that he is not connected to the crime and is innocent. No such picture was posted on Facebook and the petitioner is being falsely implicated due to personal enmity between him and the respondent.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the petitioner is the sole accused and has insulted the integrity of the Nation by posting the objectionable picture with defamatory words on Facebook and sharing it further on many groups.

Opinion of the Bench

• It was observed that the complainant is indeed a part of the ‘Hindu Munnani’ religious party and the petitioner belongs to the Muslim community. The investigation would reveal if the petitioner is guilty after checking the ID and the password of the account used for posting. Hence, the custodial interrogation of the petitioner is not required.

Final Decision

• Petition allowed.
• Anticipatory bail granted subject to certain conditions.

This case summary has been prepared by Loreal Sahay, an undergraduate student at the University School of Law and Legal Studies, GGSIPU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.