Ex-judge deletes FB post against Asianet News Executive Editor Sindhu Sooryakumar after Kerala HC intervention
Former judge S Sudeep was directed by the Kerala High Court to withdraw and delete the obscene Facebook post against Asianet News Executive Editor Sindhu Sooryakumar.
FollowKochi: Former Sub Judge S Sudeep withdrew the obscene post against Asianet Executive Editor Sindhu Suryakumar with the intervention of the High Court. The court removed the post of the accused Sudeep himself by clarifying that it would not accept the Facebook action of removing the post only within the country. In normal cases, the police themselves remove the post and ensure justice. Here it was possible after a months-long legal battle involving Facebook's parent company, Meta.
A nasty Facebook post that was made in appalling language in July of last year sparked a fierce outcry. Additionally, the police filed a complaint. Nevertheless, after six months, S. Sudeep—who had not withdrawn the FB post—finally did so with the High Court's intervention. Facebook's parent company Meta locked the post in the nation after the complaint made its way to the High Court. Yet, only in India was post-geo-blocking carried out. As a result, the Facebook post stayed the same abroad.
When the issue was brought to the notice, High Court Judge Muhammad Niyas took a strong stand that the post should be removed from everywhere and its dissemination should be prevented. With this, Sudeep himself was allowed a certain time by Meta to remove the post.
Later, the former sub-judge removed the obscene post from his account. The case also opens a new chapter with Meta Company in the legal process. When the case was considered, Meta's position was that the obscene post could not be removed outside the country as it was not within the jurisdiction of the High Court. Referring to the language written by the former sub-judge that no one should write about anyone, Justice Muhammad Niaz stood firm in ordering the immediate removal of the post from all social media platforms. The court also stated that Meta's argument regarding the boundary of the court's jurisdiction will be examined in detail later. Due to this, Meta Company granted access to this post to S Sudeep and the accused removed the obscene post.
During the hearing, the Cantonment Police had informed the High Court that they had filed a chargesheet in the case. But the police, who filed a case against the IT department, have not yet prepared to interrogate the accused or to seize the devices used to post obscenity on Facebook. The executive editor of Asianet News approached the High Court last November when the demand to remove the post was rejected by the police citing a technicality.
