Kerala High Court Quashes Hate Speech Case Against Swami Bhadrananda, Cites Delay By Police In Filing Final Report

The Kerala High Court recently quashed criminal proceedings against Himaval Maheshwara Bhadrananada popularly known as Swami Bhadrananda for allegedly promoting enmity on grounds of religion by posting derogatory comments on his Facebook page.Justice V. G. Arun quashed the proceedings on the grounds that there was a long delay in filing the police report. The FIR against Bhadrananda was filed in 2016, while the final police report was filed only in the year 2023.Noting that the final report was filed beyond the limitation period, the Court observed, “It is settled law that final report filed hastily without completing the investigation or appending the relevant documents, cannot be treated as final report filed in accordance with Section 173 of the Code. Here, after curing defects the final report was filed only on 03.02.2023. Even if 28.02.2020 is taken as the date of filing final report, that is also beyond the three year period prescribed in Section 468 Cr.P.C.”The case was registered Swami Bhadrananda for allegedly posting remarks that hurt religious sentiments of Muslim community. Reportedly, he withdrew the post after the matter became controversial. He was booked under Section 153A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence).Bhadrananda came into limelight in 2008 after he reportedly fired a gun towards a group of journalists in the premises of Aluva police station. The High Court had earlier quashed a case against him for allegedly contravening provision of Arms Act for obtaining the arms license.In the instant case, Bhadrananada argued that since the maximum punishment that can be given under Section 153A is three years, the final report should have been filed within that time.As per the report of the Magistrate, the police filed a report in February 2020, but it was returned as the seizure mahazar and prosecution sanction was not produced along with the report. The final report was resubmitted only in 2023. It was further stated by the Magistrate that no petition for condonation of delay under Section 473 Cr.PC was filed along with the final report. The public prosecutor explained that the delay occurred as the case diary went missing and it took some time to trace it out.The Court observed that the final report filed in 2020 cannot be considered as a final report as it did not annex relevant documents. The Court added that even if the date on which the initial report was filed is taken into consideration, it is still beyond the 3 year period mentioned in Section 468 Cr.P.C.The Court also took into account that there was no application of condonation of delay filed with the report. Further, the cognizance was taken on 07.02.2023 much after the period of limitation.Noting that the continuance of the proceedings will be an abuse of process of Court, it quashed the proceedings. Counsel for the Petitioner: Advocates S. Jayant, Abhiremya Raj R. B., Govind V. P., Shahanaz B., Gayathri RCounsel for the Respondents: Adv. M. C. Ashi (PP)Case No: Crl.MC 8681 of 2024Case Title: Himaval Maheshwara Bhadrananda v State of Kerala and AnotherCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 230Click Here To Read/ Download Order

Kerala High Court Quashes Hate Speech Case Against Swami Bhadrananda, Cites Delay By Police In Filing Final Report

Manju Elsa Isac

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