The Karnataka High Court quashed criminal proceedings against two men charged for raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans inside a mosque, saying it did not "outrage the religious feelings of any class".
The order was passed last month and was uploaded on court's site on Tuesday. As per the complaint, the two men, residents of Dakshin Kannada district, entered a local mosque one night in September last year and shouted "Jai Shri Ram".
Following this, they were charged by booked by the local police under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 295 A (hurting religious beliefs), 447 (criminal trespass), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
The accused men approached the High Court seeking quashing of the charges against them. Their counsel argued that a mosque is a public place and hence, there was no case of criminal trespass.
The counsel also argued that shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' did not meet the requirement of an offence defined under Section 295A of the IPC.
"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 understandable 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," Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying.
The Karnataka government opposed the petitioners' plea, and demanded their custody, saying further investigation was required in the matter.
The court, however, held that the said offence 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.
