The Bombay High Court Monday quashed a first information report (FIR) by consent against one Ramnagesh Akubathini, 25, booked for allegedly posting threats on Twitter against the infant child of Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma.
FIR quashed after couple granted consent
A division bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and PD Naik quashed the FIR after the complainant in the case, Kohli’s manager Aquilia D’Souza, granted consent to drop charges against the Akubathini.
The software engineer, who was a state topper and a graduate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad, had allegedly posted objectionable tweets against the 10-month-old daughter of Kohli and Sharma after the Indian cricket team lost the T20 world cup match on October 24, 2021, against Pakistan.
Accused claimed to be a meritorious student
The HC was hearing a petition filed by Akubathini seeking quashing of the FIR in claiming that continuation of the proceedings in the case would cause severe prejudice to him. He also claimed to be a meritorious student and rank-holder in the JEE (Advanced) Exam.
His petition stated 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 an impediment to the accused’s pursuit of Masters abroad or any other future prospects.
The petition also contended that there was no evidence to prove that the tweet in question had come from the IP address of the device which belonged to the accused.
Accused was booked, arrested in 2021
On Monday, the complainant filed an affidavit granting consent to quash the FIR. Following this, the HC quashed the FIR.
On November 8, 2021, the Mumbai police registered an FIR under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 506 (criminal intimidation), 500 (defamation) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code along with offences under the Information Technology Act.
On November 11, 2021, Akubathini was arrested in Hyderabad and brought to Mumbai. A local court granted him bail nine days later.
