Stories
Calcutta HC Orders Fresh Probe into Casteist Facebook Posts, Digital Space is 'Public View'
- •The Calcutta High Court ordered a fresh probe into alleged casteist Facebook posts, overturning a lower court's acceptance of a "nil/no clue" report.
- •Justice Uday Kumar ruled that failure to identify users through local cyber inquiry does not justify closing a case, especially with seized digital evidence and recorded statements.
- •The case originated from a complaint by a Scheduled Caste individual against Rabiul Islam Bulbul and Sayan Dutta for casteist remarks on Facebook.
- •The High Court emphasized that "public view" under the SC/ST Act extends to the digital domain, making online casteist abuse prosecutable.
- •Kolkata Police's specialized Cyber Cell is directed to conduct a new investigation using cyber-forensic methods to trace digital footprints within three months.
Key Questions Answered
The Calcutta High Court held that the digital space falls within public view under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act, setting aside a lower court order that accepted a nil final report for alleged casteist abuse on Facebook and ordering a fresh investigation.
The court ordered that further investigation into the Behala police station case be conducted under the direct supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, South-West Division, or the Cyber Cell supervisory tier, deploying specialised personnel to trace profile logs and digital footprints, with a Section 173(8) CrPC report due in three months.
The special court at Alipore rejected the protest petition in June 2023 because the same complainant had filed three other special cases resulting in charge sheets, leading the court to accept the police closure report and drop the proceedings, a reasoning the High Court found legally unsustainable.
