'Alarming; Accused Said He Will Reoffend': Uttarakhand HC Denies Bail In FIR Over 'Indecent' Post On Lord Rama, Sita

The Uttarakhand High Court recently refused to grant bail to one Riyaz, accused of posting indecent comments on Instagram targeting Lord Rama and Goddess Sita, after taking note of allegations in the FIR that the accused not only admitted to making the objectionable comment but also expressed intent to repeat such conduct in the future. A bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal, while rejecting the bail plea, observed that the nature of the allegations, as reflected on the face of the FIR, was 'very serious'. For context, the FIR stated that when a police officer attempted to counsel the accused, he refused to listen and reiterated his intention to continue making such derogatory comments against the Hindu religion. Calling the situation as 'alarming', the Court emphasised that nobody has the right to hurt the faith of the followers of the other religion. “The allegation, as apparent from the face of the FIR, appears to be very serious in nature. The present applicant belongs to a different religion but the manner in which he made that objectionable comment from his instagram account and thereafter stated that he will repeat the same in future also appears to be very serious and such an attempt certainly is nothing but an alarming situation and nobody has a right to hurt the faith of the followers of the other religion,” the Court remarked. As per the prosecution's case, on May 12, Additional SI, along with two Constables of the Uttarakhand Police, were on patrolling duty and checking suspicious vehicles. They got a piece of information from some local people that a 32-year-old accused was making indecent and objectionable comments about Lord Rama (Bhagwan Ram) and Goddess Sita (Mata Sita) on his Instagram ID and that such comments were hurting the faith of the followers of the Hindu Religion. On such information, the police officials reached the spot and they found that Riyaz was standing, and when they asked why he made that objectionable comment from his Instagram account, he said that he would do the same in future also. The FIR also claimed that a mobile phone was recovered from his pant pocket, and when it was opened, his Instagram ID was found to be active, and an objectionable comment about Lord Ram was found to have been made 3 days ago.He was then arrested and booked under Sections 196 and 299 of BNS 2023.The accused was represented by Advocate SadafDy AG Pushpa Bhatt appeared for the State

'Alarming; Accused Said He Will Reoffend': Uttarakhand HC Denies Bail In FIR Over 'Indecent' Post On Lord Rama, Sita

Sparsh Upadhyay

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