Shouting “jai shri ram” inside a mosque did not “outrage the religious feelings of any class,” the Karnataka High Court said while quashing criminal proceedings against two men booked for insulting religious beliefs of citizens.
In an order passed last month, Justice M Nagaprasanna quashed criminal proceedings against one Keerthan Kumar and Sachin Kumar, both residents of Dakshin Kannada district.
Both men had been booked by the local police under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 295 A, 447, and 506, following a complaint registered against them.
As per the complaint, the two had entered a local mosque one night in September last year and shouted “Jai Shri Ram.”
“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 High Court said.
The petitioner’s counsel had argued that a mosque was a public place and therefore, there was no case of criminal trespass. Besides, shouting jai shri ram did not meet the requirement of an offence defined under Section 295A of the IPC.
The State government however, opposed the plea and submitted that further investigation was required in the matter.
The Court, however, held that the alleged offence in the present case did not have any adverse effect on public order.
“The Apex Court holds that any and every act will not become an offence under Section 295A of the IPC. The acts that have no effect on bringing out peace or destruction of public order will not lead to an offence under Section 295A of the IPC. Finding no ingredients of any of the offences so alleged, permitting further proceedings against these petitioners would become an abuse of the process of law and result in miscarriage of justice,” the Court said.
Advocate Sachin B S appeared for the petitioners.
HCGP Sowmya R appeared for the State.
[Read Order]