Man fined Rs 45 lakh for defamation

KOCHI: A Dubai court has slapped a fine of UAE dirham 2,50,000 (Rs 44.68 lakh) on a Thrissur youth for defaming a prominent Kerala-headquartered jewellery chain through his Facebook account. Besides slapping the fine on

Binish Punanakal Arumughan

, 26, the first instance court in Dubai has also ordered his deportation.He was also asked to suspend his Facebook account for a year.

Arumughan had allegedly uploaded the photograph of a function organized by another firm, but captioned it saying the top executives of Malabar Gold & Diamonds were celebrating Pakistan's Independence Day. The photograph had gone viral on social media. Arumughan was then employed with a marine engineering firm in Sharjah.

“Since the accused had admitted to his crime and sought pardon, Malabar Gold & Diamonds withdrew the libel case. However, the public prosecutor went on filing a case of cybercrime against him,“

Shamlal Ahamed

, managing director (international operations) of the firm said in a statement.