The Kerala High Court has held that merely posting an altered photo on social media sites like Facebook does not constitute a crime under Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act.

A bench of Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan said: "If this Court started to hold that all these Facebook posts amount to an offence under Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act, 2011, almost all posts made on Facebook are to be declared as an offence under Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act."

However, the court stated that the legislature should look into the matter because defamatory posts continue to circulate on social media.

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The court said, "The defamatory Facebook posts continue to do the rounds on Facebook and other social media platforms. There is no proper punishment for such defamatory statements and posters on Facebook. The legislature must look into this aspect seriously, especially against the backdrop of this new era of technology and social media mania in existence in our society," while hearing an appeal filed by a Syrian Jacobite Church priest contesting the Magistrate Court order granting permission to register a case against him under Section 120 (o) of the Kerala Police Act.

In addition, the complainant, a Syrian Orthodox priest, went on a hunger strike on August 8, 2017, together with 35 other priests from his church, waving a banner. The appellant was accused of editing a photograph depicting the hunger strike and changing the words on the banner before posting it on Facebook, defaming the de facto complainant and other Orthodox Church priests.

The trial court allowed the filing of a case under Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act, forcing the appellant to file a petition for review with the High Court. However, after carefully reviewing the circumstances of the case as well as the terms of the Kerala Police Act, the High Court determined that the post in question, which was simply a modified photo, did not constitute the accused offense.

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As a result, the High Court granted the appeal and dismissed all proceedings pending before the Magistrate Court.