Karnataka Police Director General M.A. Salim has issued a strict order that an FIR should be registered immediately if a person’s private or intimate pictures and videos are shared without their consent. Even if there is initial consent for filming, sharing it with others will be a crime, he warned, and disciplinary action will be taken against officers who refuse to register a complaint.
Bengaluru, June 18: Karnataka State Police Director General and IGP (DG & IGP) M.A. Salim has issued a strict order that if a person’s private or intimate pictures and videos are shared on social media or elsewhere without their consent, an FIR should be registered immediately in cases of online blackmail, revenge pornography and sextortion.
Highlights
- It is mandatory to register an FIR immediately if a private picture is shared without permission.
- It has been clarified that consent for filming and consent for sharing are completely different.
- Strict disciplinary action will be taken against police officers who violate the rules.
The landmark order was issued on June 16 in the wake of complaints that the police were delaying or refusing to register complaints related to sextortion, blackmail and revenge pornography. In some cases, the complaints were refused on the grounds that the victims had previously consented to the filming of the picture or video. The police chief has clarified this confusion in his order.
What are the points in the order?
Consent to record a picture or video and consent to share it with others are two completely different legal concepts. Even if the victim has initially agreed to the photo or video being taken, sharing it with a third party or in public without their permission is a serious offence, M.A. Saleem clarified in the order.
It has been reiterated that the registration of an FIR cannot be delayed or refused at any police station on the grounds that the victim had consent. The order cited the landmark 2017 Supreme Court judgment in ‘Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India’. It is recalled that the right to physical privacy and control over the sharing of personal information is a fundamental right of every citizen under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Sharing private scenes in violation of the rule is an offence of voyeurism (invasion of privacy) under Section 77 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The DG and IGP have warned that strict disciplinary action will be taken against police officers who refuse or delay in registering FIRs when complaints of such cyber crimes are received.