Mere Abusive Expressions Do Not Constitute Offence U/S 299 BNS Unless Intended To Outrage Religious Feelings: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has quashed criminal proceedings under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, observing that merely using insulting or abusive expressions against certain persons does not constitute an offence under the provision. The Court held that Section 299 requires a deliberate and malicious intention to outrage the religious feelings of a particular class by insulting or attempting to insult its religion or religious beliefs.

Justice Sushil M. Ghodeswar was hearing a criminal application seeking quashing of an FIR registered under Section 299 BNS, on the basis of an allegedly objectionable Facebook post. The FIR was lodged alleging that an objectionable post had appeared on the applicant's Facebook account. The prosecution opposed the quashing application, submitting that witness statements linked the Facebook post to the applicant and that sufficient material was available against him.

Examining Section 299 BNS, the Court noted that the provision penalises deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens by insulting its religion or religious beliefs through spoken or written words, signs, visible representations, electronic means or otherwise.

The Court observed that every insult or objectionable statement would not necessarily attract Section 299.

“It is clear that every insult or objectionable statement would not necessarily attract the provisions of Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita… Mere use of insulting or abusive expressions against certain persons, without satisfying the aforesaid essential ingredients, would not constitute an offence under Section 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita,” the Court remarked.

Applying this standard to the Facebook post, the Court held that even if its contents were accepted at face value, they did not disclose any specific insult to the religion or religious beliefs of a particular class.

Accordingly, finding that continuation of the proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of the Court, the Court allowed the application and quashed the FIR and consequential proceedings against the applicant.

Case Title: Mohammad Hisham Osmani Mohammad Yusuf Osmani v. The State of Maharashtra [Criminal Application No. 1100 of 2026]