Actor Sruthi Hariharan on Tuesday moved the High Court of Karnataka challenging the first information report (FIR) registered by the cyber crime police against her based on a complaint by Shiva Arjun, manager, Shree Raam Films International that belongs to actor Arjun Sarja’s family.
The complaint states that Ms. Hariharan and her accomplices had misused cyberspace facilities to defame actor Arjun Sarja.
Claiming that she had “mustered courage to recall and record the incident of molestation by Arjun Sarja” between 2015 and 2016, Ms. Hariharan claimed in her petition that the FIR is “instituted against her to ridicule her via legal intimidation”.
It has been contended in her petition that even if the allegations contained in the FIR were taken at face value and accepted in their entirety, they do not prima facie constitute any of the offences alleged either under the Indian Penal Code or under provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
“When Arjun Saja realised that the truth was coming out, he pre-planned to pre-empt the petitioner from initiating proceedings against him, and manufactured, fabricated, and concocted a make-believe version out of his own fertile imagination through advisers and pressed Shiva Arjun into service to approach the law enforcement agency,” it has been contended in the petition.
“The sum and substance of allegations made is that some unknown persons are promoting fake IDs and transmitting offensive information in grave violation of the Information Technology Act and Cable TV Network Act.
“A bald and vague reference is made based on speculation that netizens are incited by the petitioner [Sruthi]. In the absence of any cogent and convincing evidence/material on record, registration of the FIR is abuse of the process of law,” she states in the petition.
