Legal experts say issue got unduly overblown

Mumbai: Legal experts said the police must have realised their folly after some overzealous officers registered case against All India Bakchod (AIB), a social media entertainment platform. The police has registered a case under the defamation law, but defamation cases can be filed only by the person who is allegedly defamed.

According to the experts, the AIB meme post came into light only after the police registered an FIR against Bhat and other members, but had this legal complaint not have taken place, this post would be treated just like any other post or photo. The post has been blown way too much out of proportion, and it is serving as nothing but a spotlight of attention and some more minutes of fame for AIB, experts said.  

Defence lawyer in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts trial, Farhana Shah said, “Ideally the person who has been defamed should file the complaint. The case becomes strong and has evidence when the victim has a first person’s account to show his side of the story and then register a complaint of defamation.”

Advocate Shah further added, “Frankly speaking, a person can file a defamation case only if he/she has been defamed and not file a complaint on behalf of others. It would be inappropriate for me comment more on this as I have not seen the post myself.”