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The FIR against the accused who is a graduate of IIT was quashed after the complainant gave his consent to quash the FIR.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice AS Gadkari and Justice PD Naik has on Monday quashed the FIR lodged against the 23-year-old engineer who was accused of sending rape threats to the 10-month-old baby of Indian Cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma.
The FIR was quashed after the complainant in the case, Kohli’s manager, Aquilia D’Souza, gave his consent to drop the charges against the accused.
Akubathini, who was a State topper and a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, had allegedly posted objectionable tweets after the Indian cricket team lost the T20 world cup match against Pakistan on October 24, 2021
In February 2022, the accused filed a petition to quash the FIR, claiming that continuing with the proceedings would cause severe prejudice to him. He further stated that he was a meritorious student and rank-holder in the JEE (Advanced) Exam. The petition, filed through advocate Abhijeet Desai, argued that the accused had been interning with reputed companies and did not have any criminal antecedents or allegations of moral turpitude levied against him.
The plea added that a pending FIR would be a hindrance to the accused's pursuit of a Master's degree abroad or any other future prospects. The petition also contended that there was no evidence to prove that the tweet in question came from the IP address of the device that belonged to the accused.
Akubathini was booked under offences punishable under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 500 (defamation), and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, along with offenses under the Information Technology Act.
The Mumbai Police arrested him in November 2021 after which he was granted bail by the magistrate court in November 2021 itself.
On Monday, the complainant through his lawyer filed an affidavit before the Bombay High Court granting consent to quash the FIR.
Case Title: Ramnagesh Srinivas Akubathini vs State of Maharashtra & Anr.
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