Overview

• Justice K Murali Shankar’s single-judge bench set aside the trial court’s ‘undetected’ closure and directed Tamil Nadu police to reopen the probe into the derogatory August 2022 Facebook post.
• The court admonished officers for relying solely on Meta’s refusal to share user data instead of pursuing leads from publicly visible profile details.
• It found the Thoothukudi Judicial Magistrate concealed the complainant’s appearance and ignored his objections when approving the case closure.
• The challenged post depicted Lord Krishna stealing bathing women’s clothes alongside Tamil comments denigrating Krishna Jayanti.
• Authorities must complete a comprehensive inquiry and file a detailed report within three months of the order.