Robert & Anr. v. State of Kerala
In the High Court of Kerala
B.A. 10303/2022
Before Justice B.K. Thomas
Decided on January 04, 2023

Relevancy of the Case: Bail application in a case involving continuous blackmailing, extortion, and transmission of private photos and videos using the internet

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66E, 67, 67A)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 439)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 34, 323, 354, 354C, 406, 415, 420, 506(i))

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The first accused (first petitioner) engaged in a physical relationship with the complainant on multiple occasions.
• The accused coerced the complainant on several occasions by threatening to leak photos and videos, resulting in an extortion of an amount totalling ₹1.5 lakhs.
• The first accused transmitted compromising pictures and videos to the second accused (second petitioner), who subsequently forwarded them to the complainant’s sister.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioners’ counsel argued that the complaint was false and contended that the alleged incident never occurred. Further, the petitioners have been in detention since December 09, 2022. Further, he asserted that their continued detention is not essential.
• The public prosecutor objected to granting bail and asserted that the allegations’ seriousness necessitates the petitioners’ continued detention.

Opinion of the Bench

• While the court acknowledges the seriousness of the offence, it must also consider that the petitioners’ detention fails to serve any purpose.

Final Decision

• The court allowed the bail application.

Sreekutty R, an undergraduate student at National Law University Odisha, prepared this case summary during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2023.