Madras HC Quashes Case Against Woman For Commenting On Photo Of Minor Girls Holding Liquor Bottle, Says Complaint Was Filed Vindictively

The Madras High Court recently quashed a case against a woman, who had posted comments online on a picture of minor girls in school uniform holding liquor bottles. In the comment, the woman discussed the nature of the administration being rendered by the political party in the State. Justice Victoria Gowri noted that the offences as alleged were not made out and quashed the cases registered against the woman for offences under Sections 504, 505(1)(b), 153 of IPC along with Section 66E of the IT Act and Sections 74 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act. The court noted that the complaint, which was lodged by a person belonging to a political party, appeared to be one filed for political vindication. “Obviously, neither alarm nor any disturbance is caused to the public and no complaint has been obtained from any of the public, in this regard except the defacto complainant who is none other than a member of one political party, who had lodged a complaint with political vindication against the petitioner who appeared to be a supporter of another political party,” the court observed. The court was hearing the plea filed by Sowdhamani. The case against Sowdhamani was registered based on a complaint filed by Arun, District Information Technology Coordinator and Sirukamani Municipal Councilor in Trichy District. The complaint was lodged after noting that Sowdhamani had commented on a shared post wherein she lamented about the state of administration in which youngsters were indulging in such practices. The prosecution justified the case and argued that the act of sharing posts displaying face of minor girls would amount to commission of offence under various sections. It was argued that the case was registered since Sowdhamani had violated the privacy of minor girls involved. The court considered each of the charges individually. The court noted that Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act strictly prohibited disclosing the identity f the child involved in legal proceedings across all media forms. In the present case, the court noted that Sowdhamani had nothing to do with any inquiry or investigation or judicial procedure. The court further noted that Section 77 of the JJ Act dealt with giving intoxicating liquor or narcotic drug or psychotropic substance to children. The court however noted that in the present case, the petitioner had not given any such substance to the minor girls. The court thus noted that the charges under the JJ Act would not stand. With respect to charges under Section 66E of the IT Act, the court noted that the provision dealt with invasion of privacy of persons in visual media. In the present case, the court noted that the petitioner had not shared the video of the minor girls but had only commented on a video posted by a third party. Thus, the court opined that the charge under IT Act was not made out. Regarding the offences under IPC, the court noted that no alarm or disturbance was caused to the public due to the comments made, except the complaint made by the defacto complainant. Thus, the court observed that the offences under Sections 504, 505(1)(b), 153 of IPC, were not made out. Thus, noting that none of the charges had been made out, the court quashed the case registered against the woman. Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. R. C. Paul Kanagaraj, Advocate Counsel for Respondents: Mr. M. Sakthi Kumar, Government Advocate (Crl.Side) Case Title: Sowdhamani v. The Inspector of Police Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 77 Case No: CRL OP(MD). No.13858 of 2024Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment

Madras HC Quashes Case Against Woman For Commenting On Photo Of Minor Girls Holding Liquor Bottle, Says Complaint Was Filed Vindictively

Upasana Sajeev

Tags