Taking photographs of a woman does not amount to stalking under Section 78 of BNS: Himachal HC
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that merely taking photographs of a woman does not fall within the ambit of stalking as defined under Section 78 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
Justice Rakesh Kainthla made this observation while granting anticipatory bail to industrialist Krishan Kumar Kasana, who was booked on allegations of harassing a regional officer of the Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Control Board by photographing his wife.
The Court clarified that Section 78 of BNS punishes a person who repeatedly follows a woman, contacts her despite her disinterest, or monitors her online activity. “In the present case, the allegations in the complaint do not show that the petitioner had followed the informant's wife and contacted her to foster personal interaction. The only allegation is that the petitioner had taken photographs of the informant's wife. Prima facie, these allegations do not satisfy the definition of stalking,” the judge observed.
The case arose from an FIR lodged against Kasana under Sections 221 (obstructing public servant), 224 (threat of injury to public servant), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 78 (stalking) of the BNS.
The informant, a regional officer in the State Pollution Control Board, alleged that the petitioner not only attempted to intimidate him and obstruct his official duties but also made videos and took photographs of his wife to compel him into granting undue favours.
The petitioner, however, argued that the officer had demanded bribes and that the FIR was a retaliatory measure, as he had filed a complaint against the officer.
The High Court, considering the facts and legal position, concluded that the allegations did not constitute stalking under Section 78 of BNS, thereby granting the petitioner anticipatory bail.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
