Supreme Court Rebukes Kerala Lawyer Over Facebook Post, Dismisses Plea to Avoid Arrest

Overview

• On Feb. 11, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard advocate Deepa Joseph’s writ seeking protection from arrest linked to a Facebook post about a rape complainant in the case involving Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil.
• The judges called the post’s language “most derogatory of a woman” and voiced shock that a lawyer used such terms about another woman.
• Joseph said she relied on information from the complainant’s husband, but the bench questioned putting alleged confidential details into the public domain.
• The Supreme Court refused her request for virtual police interrogation, dismissed the petition, and granted liberty to approach the Kerala High Court.
• The case stems from a Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police FIR based on the survivor’s complaint, and the survivor opposed Joseph’s plea alleging persistent online targeting and misleading translations.