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.