The Allahabad High Court allowed an application under Section 482 Cr.P.C. seeking the quashing of the charge sheet, the cognizance/summoning order, and the proceeding of the Sessions Trial. The court observed that the applicant has regretted his offending comment which means that he still has the appetite to learn and be brave in life.
Brief Facts:
During the electioneering for Lok Sabha Election 2019, the petitioner made a statement in response to a question being put by the journalists in respect of the statement of Sri Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, in which Sri Yogi Adityanath allegedly said that the petitioner was sympathizer of the Batla House accused/terrorists. The said incident was an encounter that took place in the year 2008 in which some terrorists were killed and one police inspector was also shot dead by the terrorists.
It is said that the present petitioner made an indecent remark against the Chief Minister, Sri Yogi Adityanath, which would read: - “Rishte me ham unke Baap Lagte hai"
Contentions of the Applicant:
The learned counsel for the applicant contended that the statement was made in a lighter vein which is a famous dialogue from the movie "Shahanshah" without any intention to be disrespectful to the Chief Minister, Sri Yogi Adityanath. The Applicant had no intention to hurt and insult the feelings and sentiments of anyone, including, Sri Yogi Adityanath.
The applicant also filed a personal affidavit in Court and expressed regret in his comment/statement.
Observations of the Court:
The Court observed that once the petitioner has regretted his comments/statement and has made it clear that he never intended to hurt the feelings and sentiments of anyone or Sri Yogi Adityanath and he made the said statement only in a lighter vein while responding to some questions put up by journalists, the impugned proceedings should be quashed. Sometimes, in the spur of the moment, a person utters something with no intention to hurt the feelings and sentiments of others, and if such a person regrets making such a statement, the Court should take a larger view of the matter and quash the proceedings. The petitioner has regretted his offending comment which means that he still has an appetite to learn and be brave in life.
Further, the Court remarked that in view of the affidavit submitted by Sri Salman Khurshid and considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, the context in which he uttered the offending sentence, and his regret for his comment, the continuation of the impugned proceedings against Sri Salman Khurshid would not be justified.
The decision of the Court:
The Allahabad High Court, allowing the application, quashed the entire proceedings under Sections 153 A, 171-G IPC and Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, pending in the court of Special Judge.
Case Title: Salman Khurshid v The State of U.P. and Another
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh
Case no.: APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 38523 of 2019
Advocate for the Applicant: Mr. Syed Mohd. Fazal
Advocate for the Respondent: G.A.
Read Judgment ;
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(With input from news agency language)
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