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Chandigarh: Think twice before hitting forward — the Punjab and Haryana High Court has made clear that circulating obscene or morphed content is no harmless act, and can expose even the sender to arrest and custodial interrogation.

Refusing anticipatory bail to a 22-year-old accused in a morphed video case, Justice Sanjay Vashisth held that the defence of “merely forwarding” does not dilute the gravity of an offence when a woman’s dignity and reputation are at stake.

The matter stems from a complaint by a widow employed at a factory in Himachal Pradesh. She alleged that a morphed obscene video — created by superimposing her image onto another person — was circulating on villagers’ mobile phones, causing people to look at her derogatorily. An FIR was registered on February 3 under the IT Act at the Cyber Crime police station, Ropar.

The accused, as per the investigation, forwarded the video via social media using another person’s mobile hotspot. His counsel argued that he had received it from a friend and forwarded it in good faith to the complainant’s son — a close friend — and had no role whatsoever in creating or editing the content.

The Court’s Ruling

Justice Vashisth was unpersuaded. Noting that the allegations seriously affected the woman’s dignity and reputation, he held that the matter could not be taken lightly. The court observed that the circumstances surrounding the video’s creation warranted a thorough investigation, making custodial interrogation of the petitioner necessary “to unearth the truth.” The anticipatory bail plea was dismissed.

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