Comedy group AIB circulated the meme across social media platforms
The Mumbai Police seem to have realised their mistake in rushing to act against comedy group AIB for the now infamous meme on Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Snapchat 'dog filter'. mid-day has learnt from the top brass that the Cyber police are most likely to file a C Summary in court that will nullify the FIR.
The controversy blew up last week, after AIB tweeted a picture of a doppelganger of Modi looking at his mobile phone at a railway station alongside a photo of the PM on which a 'dog filter' was superimposed from the Snapchat app.
The city cops were flooded with complaints from across the country, after one of the Twitterati, Reetesh Maheshwari, tagged the Mumbai Police and demanding that strict action be taken against AIB for the "disrespectful" joke directed at the PM.
The police took suo motu action and, on Friday, lodged an FIR against the Twitter handle administrator of AIB under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.
The case against AIB will be nullified if the cops file a C Summary
The cops had said that the picture shared by AIB was fully morphed and it looked like PM Modi, hence it was defamatory. A crime branch officer had earlier said that they registered the FIR after taking legal advice from an expert, who said that prima facie, the act amounted to a cognisable offence.
The police's move to file an FIR met with backlash from several people, including music composer Vishal Dadlani, who extended support to AIB. Few netizens also cited examples of sexual offence cases and criticised the cops for not showing the same speedy action in those cases.
The chargesSection 500 (defamation) of IPC, Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of IT Act
What is C Summary?It is filed when an error is made in facts while filing a criminal complaint. Once it is filed in court, it puts an end to the case altogether.
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Cop speak
"We were flooded with complaints and many people had expressed their anger after finding the post insulting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There was huge pressure from people whose sentiments were hurt, hence, the FIR was lodged. On the other hand, many others interpreted the objectionable post as merely humorous. We also learnt that the post was later removed by AIB. If nothing unexpected crops up during the probe, the investigators will most likely file a C Summary in court," said a senior officer from Mumbai Police.
What is C Summary?
Filed under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code:
>> If there is an error in facts while filing a criminal case
>> If the offence is of a civil nature
>> Once it is filed in court, the case is nullified(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)