SC quashes case against academic for denouncing Art 370 abrogation, greeting Pak citizens on I-day
New Delhi (PTI): The time has come to enlighten and educate the police machinery about the concept of freedom of speech and expression, the Supreme Court has said and set aside an order of the Bombay High Court against an academic accused of criticising the abrogation of Article 370 that bestowed special status on Jammu and Kashmir and greeting the citizens of Pakistan on the country's Independence Day.
The Maharashtra Police had registered an FIR against professor Javed Ahmed Hajam at Hatkanangale police station in Kolhapur under Section 153A (promotion of communal disharmony) of the Indian Penal Code for posting WhatsApp messages that denounced the abrogation of Article 370 and congratulated the people of Pakistan on their Independence day.
"August 5-Black Day Jammu & Kashmir" and "14th August-Happy Independence Day Pakistan," he had written on WhatsApp.
"Now, the time has come to enlighten and educate our police machinery on the concept of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and the extent of reasonable restraint on their free speech and expression. They must be sensitised about the democratic values enshrined in our Constitution," a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said.
If a citizen of India extends good wishes to the citizens of Pakistan on 14th August, which is their Independence Day, there is nothing wrong with it, the apex court observed.
"Our country has been a democratic republic for more than 75 years. The people of our country know the importance of democratic values. Therefore, it is not possible to conclude that the words will promote disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious groups.
"The test to be applied is not the effect of the words on some individuals with weak minds or who see a danger in every hostile point of view. The test is of the general impact of the utterances on reasonable people who are significant in numbers," the bench said.
Merely because a few individuals may develop hatred or ill will, it will not be sufficient to attract Section 153-A of the IPC, it said.
The court said continuation of the prosecution of the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 153-A of the IPC will be a "gross abuse" of the process of law.
"Accordingly, we set aside the impugned judgment dated April 10, 2023 of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay and quash the impugned FIR," the bench said.
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MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
