The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has refused to quash an FIR registered against a resident of Haryana's Fatehabad district under Section 295 Indian Penal Code (hurting religious sentiments) for posting derogatory remarks & obscene pictures of a Hindu deity & the festival of Janmashthami on his social media account.
The accused had sought cancellation of the FIR on the ground that he had managed a compromise with the complainant that was facilitated by a village panchayat. However, the High Court was of the view that the case does not involve a situation where only one person is affected.
"While exercising the powers under Section 482 CrPC, the Court has to see as to whether in the facts & circumstances of a particular case, it would be a fit case for quashing the FIR ... In the present case, however, the offence is so serious in nature & involves large public interest & the society at large & there is nothing to show that quashing the FIR at this stage will prevent the abuse of the process of law," observed Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri & dismissing the plea for quashing of the FIR by the accused.
The High Court also observed that the allegations against the petitioner would show that the present offence is an offence against the society at large & it is not a case of a private offence where only one person is affected whereas society at large is being affected by the aforesaid allegations.
As per the FIR, the allegations were that the petitioner had deliberately hurt the religious sentiments of crores of Hindus on social media publicly with the motive of provoking riots & even had made objectionable remarks about the deity on the holy festival of Janmashtami and had posted obscene pictures publicly, which was seen by millions of people.
Seeking quashing of the FIR, the accused argued that the complainant has entered into a compromise with him at the panchayat level and, therefore, in view of the compromise effected between the parties, no useful purpose will be served in case the prosecution is carried on.
Opposing the plea, the counsel for the state argued that the charges are so serious in nature & the gravity of the offence is of high magnitude and, therefore, it is not a fit case for quashing the FIR based upon compromise, especially when charges have been framed by the trial Court.
The lawyer representing the original complainant in this case, however, said that he had no objection in case the FIR is quashed.
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(With input from news agency language)
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