Tulugu Shanmukha Rao v. State of Andhra Pradesh
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Crl. P. 1796/2021
Before Justice B. Krishna Mohan
Decided on March 30, 2021

Relevancy of the Case: Anticipatory bail application in a case involving dowry allegations and blackmailing using nude pictures

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67A)
• The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (Section 4)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 498A, 506, 509)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner and complainant work as constables with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). They met each other at a posting, and the petitioner proposed marriage to the complainant.
• She told the petitioner to talk to elders in her family. Her family could not pay the dowry demanded by the petitioner’s family. As a result, the marriage proposal was cancelled.
• The petitioner later convinced her to secretly marry him without letting the families know. On the next day of this marriage, the petitioner told the complainant that his family would not accept the marriage and it would not be possible for him to take her to his family home.
• The petitioner married another girl within one month of this secret marriage. He started sending abusive messages to the complainant with filthy language. He also called her colleagues and harmed her reputation.
• In the presence of her family, the complainant married another man. However, the petitioner came to her place and beat her. He captured her nude photographs without her consent. He also blackmailed the complainant into spreading her videos to the public.

Opinion of the Bench

• The bench considered this a fit case to grant anticipatory bail in this case.

Final Decision

• The bench allowed the application.