Sathishkumar v. Superintendent of Police
In the High Court of Madras
Crl. OP(MD) 7201/2020
Before Justice R. Pongiappan
Decided on July 13, 2020 

Relevancy of the case: Circulation of images with the intention to harass the victim.

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 505(1)(a))
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 482) 

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner who was the scoutmaster in Thuckalay Police Boys Club had alleged that one George who was a close relative of the special CID head constables, taking advantage of their position, had illegally taken over the mines using a JCB at night.
• When the acts of George were questioned by the village people, the revenue officials initiated action against Jass, the son of George. 
• The special CID head constables and Jass thought the petitioner was the reason behind initiating action against Jass and the petitioner was roped as accused in a case which was later disposed of. However, this cost the petitioner his job and without giving him a valid explanation for his expulsion simply lodged the criminal case against him. 
• Meanwhile, one Saranya from Thuckalay was taking treatment for COVID-19. The constables got her pictures and posted them on social media with the intention to harass her. 
• The petitioner after receiving this news forwarded the same through WhatsApp and was again roped into another false case under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 
• The special CID head constables and George threatened the petitioner under the guise of enquiry.

Opinion of the Bench

• The Court was of the view that once the first information report was filed, the question of not to harass would not arise and any judgement in between would be interfering with the investigation conducted by the respondent. 

Final Decision

• Petition dismissed.

This case summary has been prepared by Anushka Ojha, an undergraduate student at Bharati Vidyapeeth New Law College, Pune, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2021.