Madan Kumar K. v. State of Karnataka
In the High Court of Karnataka
C.P. 7500/2019
Before Justice K.N. Phaneendra
Decided on November 04, 2019

Relevancy of the case: Grant of bail in a case involving stalking, demand of nude video and extortion of money from a minor

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 34, 354, 354D, 384)
• The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (Section 15, 17)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• It is alleged that accused number 1 stalked and forced the complainant to love him.
• On one occasion, when the complainant was talking to one Shashi Kumar, accused number 1 took photographs of the same and threatened the complainant, stating that he would send the images to her father.
• On this pretext, accused number 1 demanded nude video of the complainant for the purpose of deleting the previous pictures of her talking with Shashi Kumar.
• Accused number 1 forwarded the nude video to his friends, accused number 2 to 5, and demanded Rs. 4,00,000 from the complainant, to be distributed between the accused persons.

Opinion of the Bench

• The Court was of the view that accused number 4 and 5 had already been granted bail and there was no separate and distinct allegation against the accused. Hence, the accused was entitled to be released on bail on the grounds of parity.

Final Decision

• Petition allowed.
• Bail granted, subject to certain conditions.