Judge learns networking, helps obscenity victim

Where there’s a will there’s a way. Keen to ensure that his order redresses the grievance of a petitioner, an Allahabad high court (HC) judge recently took an extraordinary step.

A woman approached HC, saying a computer-savvy professor had morphed her photographs to make them appear obscene and objectionable, to say the least, and uploaded them on a social networking site.

The professor, Manoj Kumar Pandey, had been arrested by Bareilly Police under IPC sections 306, 109, 384, 467, 506, 294, and section 2(c)/4/6 of Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986. He too had moved court, saying the charges levelled against him were fabricated and sought bail pleading innocence.

Justice AP Sahi granted him bail, but also made sure the victim’s dignity and privacy are protected.

He had reasonable idea of computers, websites and applications. He came across a provision on Orkut for securing personal data and pictures. He found that a privacy update had been introduced that allowed users to completely restrict viewing of their photo albums and decided to help the victim.

Student Srivats Narain helped Sahi. He told the judge that after opening the account of the accused the option ‘shared with’ should be clicked on and a ‘close’ option should be
exercised. Doing so would make the victim’s photographs inaccessible and prevent their future viewing, he said.

Having grasped the technique, Sahi asked the police officer in charge of Pandey’s case to take help of officers who are expert in preventing and solving software and cyber crimes and immediately block viewing of the woman’s photographs. This should also be saved for evidence in the case, he said.

HC also directed the trial court to take appropriate measures and pass orders to protect privacy and reputation of the victim.