Criminal Court dismissed a petition for anticipatory bail filed under Section 438 CrPC regarding offences of uploading explicit bathing photos of a woman to Facebook, holding the accused needed custodial interrogation.
Petition under Section 438 CrPC dismissed; accused not entitled to bail; no interim order. SMM
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA DHARWAD BENCH
DATED THIS THE 20TH DAY OF JULY 2022
BEFORE
THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE K. NATARAJAN
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 101927 OF 2022
BETWEEN:
GIRIMAL S/O. SHANKAR PAWAR, AGE: 30 YEARS, OCC. AGRICULTURIST, R/O. ARUNODAYA CAMP, TQ: KARATAGI, DIST: KOPPAL – 583231.
… PETITIONER
(BY SHRI. VADIRAJ P.VADAVI, ADVOCATE)
AND:
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA, THROUGH CYBER ECONOMIC AND NARCOTICS P.S., REP. BY STATE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, DHARWAD BENCH – 580001.
... RESPONDENT (BY SMT. GIRIJA S. HIREMATH, HCGP)
THIS CRIMINAL PETITION IS FILED UNDER SECTION 438 OF CR.P.C. SEEKING THE PETITIONER MAY PLEASE BE RELEASED ON ANTICIPATORY BAIL IN THE CEN POLICE, KOPPAL MAY PLEASE BE DIRECTED TO RELEASE THE PETITIONER ON BAIL IN THE EVENT OF HIS ARREST IN CEN POLICE STATION CRIME NO.06/2022 FOR THE OFFENCES PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTIONS 354(c) OF IPC AND SECTION 66(E) &
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67(A) OF IT ACT, PENDING ON THE FILE OF LEARNED PRL. CIVIL JUDGE & J.M.F.C. KOPPAL.
THIS PETITION COMING ON FOR ORDERS, THIS DAY, THE COURT MADE THE FOLLOWING:
O R D E R
This petition is filed by the petitioner/accused under Section 438 of Cr.P.C., seeking for grant of anticipatory bail in Crime No.06/2022 registered by CEN Police Station for the offences punishable under Sections 354(c) of Indian Penal Code (for short ‘IPC’) and Section 66(E), 67(A) of Information Technology Act (for short ‘IT Act’).
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and her house is situated near to the house of the accused and there is no bathroom in the house of complainant. On 15.03.2022 at about 10.20 a.m. she received phone call from her husband and came to know that the accused by name Girimal said to be web hosted abscene photographs where she was bathing in the bathroom on face-book. Subsequently, it was intimated to her brother-in-law who is the elder brother of her husband by name Mohan and also his wife. Thereafter the message was spread over entire village about the abscene photographs were published by the accused, thereby the accused deleted the said photos from his facebook. Therefore, this complainant intimates the Police and lodged the complaint. After registering the case, the Police make effective efforts to arrest the petitioner/accused, hence he approached before the Sessions Judge for grant of bail, which came to be rejected. Therefore, the petitioner is before this Court.
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conditions. The alleged offences are not punishable with death or imprisonment of life and triable by the Magistrate. Hence, he prayed for grant of bail.
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offence is not punishable with death or imprisonment of life, but the accused took up the photographs of the women when she was bathing in home and outraged the modesty of women. The petitioner has not only took up the photography of bathing condition of the victim lady but also viewed and it was web hosted on face-book account of this petitioner, which is a prima facie material placed on record. Therefore, he may require for custodial interrogation for the purpose of recovering the cell phone as well as retrieving abscene videographs of victim lady from his mobile phone. Therefore, I am of the view that the petitioner is not entitled for grant of bail and the petition is liable to be dismissed.
8. Accordingly, the petition is hereby dismissed.
Sd/JUDGE
SMM
2 issues framed by the court
Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case involving uploading and sharing explicit photographs of a woman bathing from her residence to Facebook.
Whether the nature and circumstances of the offence warrant custodial interrogation despite the offence not being punishable by death or life imprisonment.
3 provisions across 3 enactments
GIRIMAL S/O. SHANKAR PAWAR
THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
K. NATARAJAN
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
