Karnataka HC allows probe to continue against WhatsApp group admin over content on Hindu deities
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has declined to interfere with an ongoing investigation against a WhatsApp group administrator accused of allowing the circulation of obscene and offensive images depicting Hindu deities and certain political figures, observing that the allegations prima facie attract offences under the law.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, while dismissing the petition filed by Sirajuddin, held that the essential ingredients of Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with acts intended to outrage religious feelings, were made out at this stage. The court said it could not halt an investigation of such nature when the matter was still at a preliminary stage, as reported by Deccan Herald.
Sirajuddin, a resident of Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, had approached the High Court seeking to quash a case registered against him in 2021 by the Cyber, Economics and Narcotics Crime police station in Mangaluru. The case was booked under Section 295A of the IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, which relates to the transmission of obscene material in electronic form.
The complaint was filed by K Jayaraj Salian, who alleged that he had been added to a WhatsApp group through a link received from an unknown source. According to the complaint, the group had around six administrators and nearly 250 members, and obscene images depicting Hindu deities and certain political leaders were repeatedly shared in the group chat.
Sirajuddin was arrested in connection with the case and later released on bail on February 16, 2021. Before the High Court, he argued that he had been selectively targeted while no action was taken against the other administrators, including the creator of the group. He also contended that the case under Section 295A could not proceed in the absence of prior sanction under Section 196(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Rejecting the argument, the court clarified that prior sanction is required only at the stage when a magistrate takes cognisance of the offence and not at the stage of registration of a case or during investigation. The state placed the investigation material before the court, which, according to Justice Nagaprasanna, contained highly obscene and demeaning depictions of Hindu deities.
The judge noted that the content was such that reproducing it in a judicial order would itself be inappropriate, adding that the material, on its face, had the potential to outrage religious feelings and disturb communal harmony.
While expressing concern that the investigating agency appeared not to have proceeded uniformly against all administrators of the group, the court said it was premature to draw conclusions. It observed that if the investigation reveals active involvement of other administrators or members in permitting the circulation of such content, they too would have to face action under the law.
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West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee moves SC against SIR
New Delhi (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state, sources said on Sunday.
The petition names the Election Commission (EC) and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal as respondents. It was filed before the apex court on January 28, the sources said.
Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar at 4 pm on Monday to discuss the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo would be accompanied by a delegation of party leaders.
She is also likely to meet party MPs in the Parliament House on Monday.
Talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for the national capital, Banerjee claimed that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre is resorting to the SIR exercise because it is certain of its imminent defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, due in a few months, and said the saffron party should contest the election politically and democratically.
The West Bengal chief minister has written several letters to the CEC, raising concerns over the conduct of the exercise.
In her most recent letter to the CEC on January 31, she alleged that the methodology and approach of the exercise went beyond the provisions of the Representation of the People Act and the relevant rules, causing "immense inconvenience and agony" to citizens.
Earlier, TMC leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, had moved the apex court, challenging certain aspects of how the SIR is being carried out in West Bengal.
