HC denies relief to man accused of circulating 'inflammatory' message

Prayagraj (UP), Oct 9 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has observed that circulating a WhatsApp message to multiple people, alleging that the members of a particular community are being targeted, would prima facie constitute the offence of promoting the feeling of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different religious groups.

With the above observation, the court refused to quash an FIR lodged against petitioner Afaq Ahmad, who had allegedly forwarded an inflammatory message to several individuals on WhatsApp.

The petitioner had also allegedly conveyed a subtle message that his brother was targeted in a false case as he belonged to a particular community.

The petitioner's counsel had argued that in the message, resentment was shown by the petitioner about his brother's arrest but it was not intended to disturb public peace, tranquillity or communal harmony.

The court noted that though the message did not speak about religion per se, it conveyed an underlying and subtle message that the petitioner's brother was targeted in a false case because he belonged to a particular community.

Dismissing the writ petition filed by Ahmad, a bench of Justices J J Munir and Pramod Kumar Srivastava said those unsaid words "would prima facie outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens hailing from a particular community, who would think that they are being targeted because of belonging to a particular religious community".

"Quite apart, and, even if one were to think that no religious feelings of a class of citizens or community have been outraged per se by the WhatsApp message, it is certainly a message, which, by its unsaid words, is likely to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between religious communities, where members of a particular community in the first instance could think that they are being targeted by members of another religious community by abusing the process of law," the court added.

In its order dated September 26, the court further observed that sending such a message to multiple people, alleging the targeting of the members of one religious group, prima facie attracts the ingredients of section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Therefore, the petitioner is not entitled for the relief under Article 226 (writ petition) of the Constitution. PTI COR RAJ RC