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Karnataka High Court: In a petition filed by the petitioner, accused of defamation, identify theft, cheating by personation and publication of sexually explicit material, under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 (‘CrPC’) to quash proceedings against him, a Single Judge Bench of M.I. Arun, J., dismissed the same and held that if allegations of creation of sister-in-law’s fake social media accounts stood proved against the petitioner, then they would be considered defamatory in character.
Background
In the present case, the respondent, estranged sister-in-law of the petitioner, accused him of harassing and defaming her by way of creating fake social media accounts on account of the matrimonial dispute. He allegedly created an account portraying that it belonged to her, and she was portrayed there as a call girl looking for men. Such fake social media accounts were not private in nature, allowing any random person to access it thereby giving the content a wide degree of publicity.
Thus, the respondent filed a complaint under Section 200 of the CrPC, and the Trial Court took cognizance of the offences punishable under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act. Thereafter, the petitioner was charged with offences punishable under Sections 499 and 500 of the IPC and Sections 66(C), 66(D) and 67(A) of IT Act which he has challenged in the case at hand.
Analysis and Decision
The Court noted that the petitioner allegedly created his estranged sister-in-law’s fake social media accounts accessible in the public domain which contained contents suggesting that the respondent was a prostitute, calling her and her family members names and making derogatory remarks against them. The Court opined that if such allegations stood proved against the petitioner, then they would be considered defamatory in character.
Hence, the Court reaffirmed the Trial Court’s order of framing charge against the petitioner as the said social media accounts carried defamatory statements against the respondent. Accordingly, the Court dismissed the petition and did not quash the said proceedings against the petitioner.
[Pramod Shivashankar v. Vaishnavi, Crl. Petition No. 8217 of 2023, decided on 30-10-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For the Petitioner: Shridharamurthy H. R., Advocate
For the Respondent: Shireesha S., Advocate for K.N. Subba Reddy Assts.
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