Virendrasinh Ajitsinh Makwana v. State of Gujarat
In the High Court of Gujarat
Cr. Misc. Application No. 1791/2009
Before Justice Abhilasha Kumari
Decided on February 20, 2009

Relevancy of the case: Bail application in a case involving Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Statutes & Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 375, 506(2)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The complainant was a twenty-year-old girl who was in a relationship with the applicant.
• The applicant, through his cellular phone, circulated some indecent MMS of the complainant without her knowledge or consent.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

Mr L.B. Dabhi, Counsel for the Respondent:

• The learned counsel strongly opposed the grant of bail to the accused. He argued that the accused had distributed indecent MMS without the consent or knowledge of the complainant through his cellular phone. Therefore, he will be liable under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 along with Section 506(2), and 376 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

Mrs Shilpa R. Shah, Counsel for the Applicant:

• It was submitted that the applicant was innocent and the allegation against the applicant is false. She also argued that the applicant and the complainant were in relation for quite a long time and used to meet each other regularly. The complainant was not successful in giving a valid explanation for filing the complaint after three months. In addition to that, there is no evidence of the MMS being circulated or forwarded.

Opinion of the Bench

• From the FIR, it becomes clear that the complainant and applicant had known each other and the events, as mentioned in the FIR, did not happen in a public place. Since there is no evidence in the FIR to show that the applicant had distributed the MMS, the court believes that the application is worthy to be allowed.

Final Decision

• The applicant was ordered to pay an amount of Rs. 10,000 in the trial court and to abide by the conditions of the bail.
• The application was allowed.

This case summary has been prepared by Afsana Khan, an undergraduate student at Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in June/July 2020.