The Kerala High Court on Thursday said that the admin of a WhatsApp group cannot be held accountable for objectionable material posted on the group by some other member.
A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the order on a petition filed against office admin of a group over a porn video clip posted on the group administered by him.
The petitioner created the group comprising his friends and the video clip showing children was posted on it in March 2020.
A case was filed over it under the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The petitioner was named the second accused in the case.
The High Court said that admins can delete members, but they do not have any control over what a member is posting, while setting aside the proceedings against the petitioner.
“A vicarious criminal liability can be fastened only by reason of a provision of a statute and not otherwise. In the absence of a special penal law creating vicarious liability, an admin of a WhatsApp group cannot be held liable for the objectionable post by a group member,”
-the High Court observed.
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The bench added that merely acting in the capacity of creator or administrator cannot be the ground for an offence and the admin cannot be an intermediary under the IT Act.
In December, the Madras High Court also said a group admin cannot be made liable for a member’s post while quashing a case for circulating an objectionable mail intended to create animosity between communities.