Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday admitted a petition filed by actor Ansiba Hassan challenging a lower court's refusal to direct the police to register an FIR against fellow actor Lakshmi Priya and two officials of the YouTube channel 'CAN Channel.' The petition alleges that objectionable videos were circulated online to tarnish Ansiba's reputation.
Justice Jobin Sebastian issued notices to the Kerala State government, the Station House Officer of Palarivattom Police Station, and the Ernakulam District Police Chief, giving them one week to respond. The case is scheduled for further hearing next week.
During the proceedings, the court scrutinized the penal provisions cited in the petition to check if the allegations met the legal threshold. Referring to a specific charge under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Justice Sebastian orally remarked that the provision was not gender-neutral and that "only men can commit the offence."
Ansiba's counsel clarified that two men were also named as accused alongside Lakshmi Priya—the individual who conducted the interview and the owner of the YouTube channel that aired the content. However, the court observed that simply conducting an interview might not automatically make the interviewer liable for the alleged crime.
The legal action stems from a complaint Ansiba initially filed with the police. After they declined to register a case, she approached the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Ernakulam. While the Magistrate called for a police report under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), it ultimately rejected her plea to order the registration of an FIR.
When the High Court was informed that police had deemed the matter purely a case of defamation, it questioned whether the Magistrate had explicitly ruled out other cognizable offences. Finding that the Magistrate's order did not clearly address this aspect, the High Court agreed to consider the petition in detail.
Ansiba's petition invokes Sections 75(iv) and 79 of the BNS, Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, and Section 119(a) of the Kerala Police Act, asserting that the videos were intentionally distributed to harass and humiliate her on social media platforms.
(Inputs from IANS)