In a significant ruling, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court recently dismissed charges of identity theft and obscenity against a man accused of defaming his brother-in-law via posts allegedly made from a fake Facebook account. The Court held that printed screenshots of Facebook posts were not enough evidence to establish the creation of a fake account.
The case unfolded when the complainant, the man’s brother-in-law, alleged that the accused had created two fraudulent Facebook profiles—“Minal Basavraj Swami” and “Chandra Surnal”—to post defamatory content targeting him and his family, particularly his wife. The complainant suggested that the motive stemmed from a marital dispute between the accused and his wife.
However, after reviewing the evidence, the Court, led by Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and SG Chapalgaonkar, found the investigation lacking. They noted that the only evidence provided were printed screenshots of the allegedly defamatory posts, but no substantial proof linked the accused to the fake accounts. The judges pointed out that mere screenshots cannot definitively prove the origin of the posts.
“This is not enough to establish that the posts were made from the alleged fake account,” the Bench declared, emphasizing that there was no supporting forensic evidence or IP address tracking to substantiate the claim. The Court also criticized the handling of the investigation, highlighting the failure to enlist cyber crime experts and conduct a thorough technical examination of devices.
As a result, the Court quashed the charges, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to warrant a trial. The decision underscores the importance of strong, corroborative proof in cybercrime cases and raises concerns about the quality of investigations into digital offenses.
