32-year-old woman files petition in HC by questioning FIR against her

BENGALURU: On Wednesday, the Karnataka High Court ordered the issual of a notice to the State and the city police on a petition which was filed by a woman, questioning the legality of registration a First Information Report (FIR) against her under a non-existing provision of the Information Technology Act for posting a letter on her Facebook page which allegedly contained the forged signature of Home Minister M.B. Patil.

Justice K. Natarajan had passed the order based on the petition filed by Sharada D.R alias Sharada Diamond, 32, who is a software engineer and a resident of K.R. Puram.

On April 25, an FIR was registered by the Srirampura police in the city based on a complaint which was filed by one J. Saravana, who alleged that on April 16 the petitioner posted the fake letter on her Facebook page and wrote adverse comments against Mr. Patil to tarnish his image.

Allegations in the petition have stated that the Minister and his political aides are mounting "extreme pressure" on the police to arrest the petitioner regarding some pretext or other.