Muhammed Bilal v. State of Kerala
In the High Court of Kerala
Bail Appl. 1605/2022
Before Justice Gopinath P.
Decided on March 11, 2022

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving downloading, storing, and sharing child pornography

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67B)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner downloaded, stored, and shared child pornography videos from his mobile phone. 

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the petitioner is 19 years of age and has been in custody since January 16, 2022. Moreover, someone falsely implicated him in the case, but he was completely innocent.
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the petitioner is also an accused of another crime at the same police station for offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and his arrest was recorded for the same.

Opinion of the Bench

• In summary, considering the petitioner’s age and the circumstances of the case, this is a fit case for the grant of bail.

Final Decision

• The court granted the bail application with conditions.

Satvik Mishra, an undergraduate student at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, prepared this case summary during his internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2022.