Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection To Poet In Case Over Poem Titled 'Ram'

In anticipatory bail plea of a man accused of hurting religious sentiments and creating communal discord through his poem on Hindu God Shri Ram and Goddess Sita, the Supreme Court today issued notice.

The Court also granted him interim relief by directing that he shall not be arrested on the condition that he shall cooperate with the investigation.

The order was passed by a Bench of Justices MM Sundresh and SVN Bhatti, taking into account the apology issued by the man - a poet from Assam - after retracting the Facebook post on the poem.

During the initial phase of the hearing, Justice Bhatti pointed out to the Hate Speech cases pending before another Bench. Focusing on the facts of the present case, the Judge said, "the problem here is, the person who is going to read it and understand it...you have to keep yourself in that position, understand how it is going to trigger or cause any problem in that society...I don't want to read in public Court, but definitely there are 3 innuendos in two pages (containing the poem)...when someone with higher level looks at 3, person with complete ignorance can see every word in wrong direction".

In response, Advocate Sharukh Alam, the accused's counsel, urged that this was not a Hate Speech case and the post was retracted within hours. The Court however remarked that the points argued by the counsel were positive circumstances in the accused's favor, but if the poem was looked at on standalone basis, the Court had to be "judicious".

At this point, the accused's counsel drew the Court's attention to the public apology posted by him pursuant to negative feedback on the poem. In view of the same, notice was issued to State and a direction passed against the accused's arrest subject to condition.

To put the facts briefly, an FIR under Sections 153A/295/295A/416/420 IPC was lodged on January 23, 2024 on allegations that concealing his real identity, the accused - a Muslim - created an account on social media platform 'Facebook' under the name 'Neelabh Sourav' and posted a poem from it aiming obscene words at Hindu Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.

Apprehending arrest, the accused moved the Gauhati High Court, pleading that he had no intention to hurt anybody's religious sentiments and had not even mentioned any community. He further claimed that the poem, which sought to shed light on societal issues, was a legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of speech and expression.

After hearing the accused's counsel and the State PP, the High Court denied relief of pre-arrest bail, noting that investigation was ongoing. It was further of the view that accused's custodial interrogation was 'indispensable'. On a perusal of the case diary, the Court also noted that the accused was absconding since the date of occurrence and if he was granted pre-arrest bail, he could hamper investigation and/or tamper with witnesses.

Against the High Court order denying bail, the accused approached the Supreme Court. Before the top Court, his case is that no custodial interrogation is required as he has admitted that he authored the subject poem titled 'Ram'. He asserts that on realizing that some people did not appreciate the context of his post, he had issued a public apology and removed the subject post. While doing so, he had declared his own reverence and respect towards Lord Ram and the tradition of the nation.

It is further claimed that the accused is a poet of repute, who is known to write under the pen name 'Neelabh Sourav'. The accused is aggrieved that the High Court did not appreciate the fact that his intention behind the poem was to depict the hardships faced by impoverished daily-wage/menial workers.

Referring to the poem, he explains in the petition that the names 'Ram' and 'Sita' were used as they are 'organic' and 'popular' in the country, and further, to represent the broader spectrum of workers experiencing societal hardships.

The petition has been filed through Advocate on Record Akriti Chaubey.

Case Title: Rakib Uddin Ahmed @ Neelabh Sourav v. State of Assam and Anr., SLP(Crl) No. 3592/2024

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