Andhra Pradesh HC Grants Anticipatory Bail To Man Accused Of Posting Defamatory Content On Facebook Concerning CM Chandrababu Naidu
Justice Harinath. N, Andhra Pradesh High Court
The Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted anticipatory bail to a man being accused of posting defamatory content on Facebook platform concerning the Chief Minister (CM) N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
The Court was dealing with a Criminal Petition filed by the accused against whom a case was registered under Sections 192, 196, 336(4), 340(2), 353(2), 61(2), and 111(2)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act).
A Single Bench of Justice Harinath N. said, “This Court agrees with the observations of the Kerala High Court and admittedly, no charge sheet is filed against the petitioner for similar offenses in any court of law in the preceding ten years as such, cause for invocation of Section 111 of B.N.S. has to be dealt appropriately by the investigating officer during the course of investigation of the crime.”
Advocate Y.L. Siva Kalpana Reddy represented the Petitioner/accused while Public Prosecutor represented the Respondent/Complainant.
In this case, it was alleged that the Complainant/Respondent noticed a posting on the social media platform Facebook on November 8, 2024 posted by the Petitioner/accused. The posting was allegedly related to defamatory content concerning the Deputy CM and CM with the intention to defame both. The accused was alleged to have used abusive language in the said posting. The posting was further alleged to have caused political disturbance that could lead to escalated violence. A Complaint was lodged by the Complainant. The accused was before the High Court, seeking anticipatory bail.
The High Court in the above context of the case, observed, “Taking note of these jurisprudential developments, the Court in Aveek Sarkar markedly moved away from the Hicklin test to the “community standard test” where the material is considered as a whole to determine whether the specific portions have the tendency to deprave and corrupt. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has allowed the appeal by holding that no offense of publication or transmission of any material in electronic found, which is obscene, lascivious, or appeals to prurient interest, and/or having the effect of tending to deprave and corrupt persons, as provided under Section 67 of the IT Act is made out.”
The Court, therefore, granted anticipatory bail on the following two conditions –
i) The Petitioner/accused shall be released on bail in the event of arrest on furnishing a personal bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties for a like sum, to the satisfaction of the Station House Officer, Kankipadu Police Station.
i) The Petitioner/accused shall cooperate with the investigation as and when required.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Criminal Petition and granted anticipatory bail to the accused.
Cause Title- Pesala Sivashankar Reddy v. The State of Andhra Pradesh
