The Single Judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justice JJ Munir in the case of Asif v. State of UP and Another has dismissed the application for quashing the case on accused alleged of posting objectionable comments on his Facebook Account, regarding Lord Shiva, employing objectionable language, which has hurt religious sentiments of the Hindu Community.
The brief facts of the case are that by the objectionable comments, the accused has insulted the religious sentiments of the Hindu Community. There have been further comments fomenting communal hatred by the other co-accused, in the comments section of the Facebook Account. After investigation, the Police have submitted a charge-sheet on the basis of material collected. The Court has taken cognizance of the offence and the applicant has now challenged the resultant proceedings, through the present application under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
The Court heard the arguments of both the parties and observed that if there is a comment which has the tendency to promote enmity between different groups, on the ground of religion posting it on one's Facebook, would certainly constitute an offence.
The Court further held that offences of these kinds have a tendency to promote hatred between classes of people or communities, have to be put down with a heavy hand and cannot be permitted to flourish in society by adopting a soft-pedalling approach at the cost of widespread damage to the community.
Therefore, the Court quashed the application and found no good ground to quash the proceedings in exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C.
Case Details
Case:- APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 10602 of 2023
Petitioner:- Asif
Respondent:- State of U.P. and Another
Counsel for the Petitioner - Gauri Shanker Mishra
Counsel for the Respondent – G.A.
Judge: Justice JJ Munir
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