Ace Indian batter Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma gave the no-objection certificate to the Bombay High Court, which on Monday, quashed the FIR and charge sheet against the person accused of giving a rape threat to the couple’s daughter Vamika in 2021.
A division bench of Justices AS Gadkari and PK Naik quashed the FIR against Hyderabad techie Ramnagesh Srinivas Akubathini registered by the Cyber Police under Section 354A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation), 500 (defamation) of the IPC and Sections 67 & 67B of the IT Act 2000.
Since Kohli and Anushka had registered the FIR through their manager, the ‘No-objection’ to quash the FIR was also through their manager Aquilia Norman D’Souza.
On October 24, 2021, India lost a World Cup match to Pakistan for the first time in the T20 World Cup event in Dubai. Kohli had then supported pacer Mohammad Shami, who was trolled because of his poor performance against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup based on his religion.
Hyderabad techie Ramnagesh Srinivas Akubathini then crossed limits on social media and made some disturbing remarks against Kohli’s daughter Vamika and hence an FIR was registered based on Kohli's manager's complaint.
In his 2022 petition before the Bombay High Court, Akubathini, who hails from Telangana claimed that he was a meritorious student and a rank-holder in the JEE (Advanced) Exam. He also submitted an appreciation letter from his employer.
He added that he wanted to pursue Masters abroad and the pending FIR would act as an impediment to his future prospects. He said that his IP address was no conclusive proof of him having committed the crime and the mischief could have been played by someone else as well.
D’Souza stated that the young man had written to her on April 5, 2023 and requested the couple to consent for quashing of the FIR. On being satisfied with the genuineness of the contents of the letter, the couple instructed their manager to give him “no-objection.”
(Live Law inputs)
