Read Time: 03 minutes
The bench also criticized how the investigation was conducted. It noted that the Investigating Officer should have sought the help of an expert to determine the IP address from which those accounts were created
The Bombay High Court has recently observed that printed screenshots of defamatory Facebook posts are not sufficient to prove that they were created by a fake Facebook account.
“Print of screen shots of Facebook material will not at any stretch of the imagination would prove that the said post was created from an alleged fake account,” the order reads.
The division bench of the high court at Aurangabad, comprising Justice Vibha Kankanwadi and Justice Chapagoankar, was hearing a petition filed by a man whose brother-in-law filed a complaint against him.
The complaint stated that the man created two fake Facebook accounts named "Minal Basavraj Swami" and "Chandra Surnal" to defame him and his family. It further stated that this was done due to marital discord between the man and his wife.
The bench also criticized how the investigation was conducted. It noted that the Investigating Officer should have sought the help of an expert to determine the IP address from which those accounts were created.
“When it was specifically alleged in the First Information Report that two Facebook accounts have been fraudulently created, then the Investigating Officer ought to have got help of an expert to see from which IP address those accounts were created, whether any such electronic device of the said IP address is with the accused,” the order reads.
Accordingly, the bench proceeded to quash the FIR.
Case title: Mahesh Shivling Tilkari vs State of Maharashtra
Please Login or Register
