The Karnataka High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a 26-year-old Bihar man accused of watching and uploading obscene videos of children on Facebook, holding that such allegations involve offences against society and require a full investigation.
Justice Nagaprasanna dismissed a petition filed by Shyam Praveen Singh, who had sought to set aside a suo motu First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Whitefield police in November 2025.
The court rejected the petitioner’s argument that the FIR had been lodged nearly five years after the alleged uploading of the videos in 2020. It held that the passage of time did not dilute the seriousness of the allegations, particularly where the alleged child sexual abuse material continued to remain available on social media.
Court Rejects Delay Argument
Singh contended that the criminal case was initiated only in 2025 despite the alleged incident dating back to April 29, 2020.
The High Court, however, found no merit in that submission. It observed that uploading obscene videos involving a child, retaining such material online, or even storing it on a mobile phone would, at least prima facie, constitute an offence under Section 67B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Justice Nagaprasanna also remarked that allegations relating to viewing child pornography could be examined even if an FIR were registered after a much longer period, adding that a delay of five years was not significant in such cases.
Police Linked Facebook Account To Petitioner’s Phone Number
According to the prosecution, the Whitefield police traced the Facebook account that allegedly uploaded child pornography videos to the petitioner’s mobile phone number. The material was allegedly uploaded on April 29, 2020, and continued to remain accessible on the social media platform.
Based on these findings, the police registered the suo motu FIR against Singh in November 2025.
Investigation Cannot Be Stopped At Initial Stage
Declining to interfere with the proceedings, the High Court said the allegations required proper investigation and that the case could not be brought to an end at its preliminary stage.
Observing that offences involving child sexual abuse material are offences against society and are unpardonable, the court held that the investigation should proceed and dismissed the petition seeking quashing of the FIR.
