Calling someone 'Miyan-Tiyan', 'Pakistani' in poor taste, but not an offence: Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday stated that calling someone ‘Miyan-Tiyan’ or branding an individual as a ‘Pakistani’ would be in poor taste but it does not amount to an offence of hurting religious sentiments.
The observation was made by a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma while quashing a criminal case against Hari Nandan Singh, an 80-year-old man accused of making such remarks.
The complaint was filed by Md Shamim Uddin, an Urdu translator and an acting clerk in Jharkhand. According to the complainant, when he visited the accused to furnish information about a Right To Information (RTI) application, the latter abused him by referring to his religion and used criminal force against him while he was discharging his official duties.
An FIR was lodged at Bokaro Sector-IV police station against the man for offences under Sections 298 (hurting religious sentiments), 504 (insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The appellant is accused of hurting the religious feelings of the informant by calling him ‘Miyan-Tiyan’ and ‘Pakistani’. Undoubtedly, the statements made are in poor taste. However, it does not amount to hurting the religious sentiments of the informant,” the bench said.
According to the top court, there was no act on the accused's part that could have provoked a breach of peace. It also mentioned that there was no assault or use of force by the appellant to attract Section 353 IPC.
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Jawan found dead in CRPF camp in J-K's Shopian
Srinagar (PTI): A CRPF jawan died inside a camp in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.
Head constable Surinder Singh, who hails form Hyderabad, fell unconscious late Tuesday night at the Zainapora Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Shopian, the officials said.
Singh was shifted to Zainapora hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.
Police has taken cognizance of the incident and started proceeding to ascertain cause of Singh's death.
