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News Topical, Digital Desk : The Supreme Court has dismissed a law student's petition seeking quashing of a criminal case filed against him over a Facebook post that read, " The Babri Masjid will be rebuilt one day, just like the Sofia Mosque was rebuilt in Turkey . "
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymala Bagchi stated that it had seen the post and saw no reason to interfere. The court stated that the accused's defense arguments could be heard on their own merits in the trial court. Following this, the petitioner withdrew his petition.
This petition was against the order of Allahabad High Court
The petition was against the Allahabad High Court order which had refused to quash the FIR lodged in 2020. The FIR alleged that the petitioner had posted objectionable posts on Facebook related to the Babri Masjid.
It's worth noting that this post was uploaded on August 5, 2020. The Babri Masjid was demolished in Ayodhya in 1992, sparking a long dispute between Hindu and Muslim parties. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that the demolition of the mosque was illegal, but awarded the disputed land to Ram Lalla. A Muslim family was granted another five acres of land for the construction of a mosque.
Petitioner's argument
The petitioner argued that he had merely expressed his opinion, which is protected under Article 19(1)( a) of the Constitution , i.e., freedom of expression. He said that the post contained neither inflammatory language nor obscene words.
He said that some of the objectionable comments were made by others but were falsely attributed to him. The investigation also revealed that some of the comments were made from a fake profile. Despite this, action is being taken only against him.
He was in custody for more than a year
The petitioner was detained for over a year under the National Security Act ( NSA) based on this post . However, the Allahabad High Court vacated his detention in 2021. His lawyer argued in the Supreme Court that the case was motivated by malice and an abuse of law. However, the Supreme Court said it would not comment on the matter and would allow the trial court to investigate the matter.
During the hearing, the petitioner's lawyer argued that the post contained no obscenity, and that the offensive words were written by others. Justice Surya Kant responded, " Please compel us to comment. " The lawyer urged the court to review the post itself and make a decision.
Strict remarks of the court
The judge replied, " We have seen your post and read it several times. " When the lawyer again insisted that the court had not seen the post, the judge warned, " Don't say we haven't seen it, or you will face the consequences. " Finally, the lawyer said he wanted to withdraw the petition so that his defense would not be affected at trial. The court granted it.
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