'How Is Shouting 'Jai Sriram' Inside Mosque An Offence?' : Supreme Court Asks Complainant, Seeks Karnataka Police's Stand

The Supreme Court on Monday (December 16) sought the stand of the State of Karnataka in a petition challenging the Karnataka High Court's view that shouting 'Jai Sriram' inside a mosque would not amount to an offence. A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a petition filed by the complainant in the case against the judgment of the Karnataka High Court dated September 13 whereby, the High Court quashed criminal proceedings two persons accused of trespassing in Badriya Juma Masjid and shouting the slogan "Jai Sriram". The High Court observed in the judgment "it is un-understandable as to how if someone shouts 'Jai Sriram' it would outrage the religious feeling of any class".Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, for the petitioner, submitted that the proceedings were stayed within twenty days of filing the FIR, even when the investigation was at the preliminary stage."Alright, they were shouting a particular religious slogan. How is that an offence?" Justice Mehta asked.Kamat argued that shouting a religious slogan in another religious place would amount to the offence of inciting communal disharmony under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code.The bench asked if the accused persons had been identified. Kamat replied that CCT visuals had been collected and the police identified the accused persons, as recorded in the remand report. The bench asked if merely spotting the accused near the mosque would mean that they shouted the slogans."Are you able to identify the actual accused? What material you have brought?" the Court asked. Kamat clarified that he was only representing the complainant (caretaker of the mosque) and it is for the police to conduct the investigation and collect the evidence. The FIR need only give information about the offence and need not be an 'encyclopedia' containing all evidence, he added.The bench, while saying that it was not issuing formal notice, asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the petition on the State of Karnataka. The matter will be posted next in January 2025.Averments of the petitionerAs per the facts stated in the SLP, the complainant along with one Naushad Saqafi were sitting in the office area of the Badriya Jumma Masjid, at Mardala, Aithoor Village. At around 10:50 p.m., some unknown persons entered the compound/premises of the Mosque and started shouting/raising religious slogans "Jai Sriram". The unknown person then threatened that "they will not allow Bearys(Muslims) to live in peace".When the complainant and Naushad Saqafi came out of their office, the two strangers exited the Mosque premises and sped away on a two-wheeling. Upon examining the CCTV footage, the complainant saw one duster car roaming suspiciously in front of the Mosque and also saw the two individuals who had entered the Mosque premises.A complaint was filed at the Kadaba Police Station at around 1:00 am against the said unknown accused and an FIR was registered under Sections 447 (punishment for criminal trespass), 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), 505 (statements conducing public mischief), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) read with 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.They complain that Hindus and Muslims in the jurisdiction of Kadaba Police Station are living in great harmony and these persons who have shouted 'Jai Sriram' are creating a rift between the communities. Following the registration of the FIR, police investigated and identified 2 accused and arrested them on September 25, 2023, at around 6:30 pm. The accused were then produced before the Magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. However, in the meantime, the accused moved for bail, which was granted to them on September 29, 2023.Thereafter, the accused filed a writ petition for quashing the criminal proceedings. On November 29, 2023, the High Court stayed the proceedings before the civil judge and JMFC, Puttur, Dakshin Kannada. Consequently, the entire criminal proceedings were quashed on the ground that the allegation made in the complaint/FIR did not disclose the ingredients of the offences alleged.What did the High Court say?Justice M. Nagaprasanna of the High Court held: "Section 295A deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. It is ununderstandable as to how if someone shouts 'Jai Sriram' it would outrage the religious feeling of any class. When the complainant himself states that Hindu - Muslims are living in harmony in the area the incident by no stretch of imagination can result in antimony."The judgment has relied on the judgment of Mahendra Singh Dhoni v. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar (2017) which held that not every act or attempt to insult religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens would be penalised under Section 295-A of the ...

'How Is Shouting 'Jai Sriram' Inside Mosque An Offence?' : Supreme Court Asks Complainant, Seeks Karnataka Police's Stand

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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