The public interest litigation by Vishnu Kumar Srivastava had prayed to the the Allahabad High Court to direct state authorities to curb fake news. The Court dismissed the plea since it involved a direction to the State on policy matters and the Supreme Court was already looking into such cases.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Pandey said that the FIR has been lodged for propagating fake and misleading news regarding the incident.
The Supreme Court Judge Justice Sanjay Kishen Kaul has said that the mindless forwarding of WhatsApp messages without any verification is leading to the spread of fake news and such messages often assume racial and religious overtones.