One should behave responsibly while uploading WhatsApp status: Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): One should behave with a sense of responsibility while communicating something to others via their WhatsApp status, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has said while refusing to quash a case against a man for posting content allegedly spreading hatred against a religious group.
A division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki SA Menezes in its order on July 12 said the purpose of WhatsApp status nowadays is to convey something to your contacts.
People keep checking the WhatsApp status of their contacts often, it noted.
The bench dismissed the petition filed by 27-year-old Kishor Landkar, seeking to quash the FIR lodged against him for offences under the Indian Penal Code for intentionally hurting or offending religious sentiment or faith, as well as provisions of the Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Information Technology Act.
"WhatsApp status can be a picture or video of what you are doing, thinking or something you have seen, which disappears after 24 hours. The very purpose of WhatsApp status is to convey something to a person's contacts. It is nothing but a mode of communication with known persons," the HC said.
"One should behave with a sense of responsibility while communicating something to others," the court said.
The complainant's case is that in March 2023, the accused uploaded his WhatsApp status wherein he wrote a question and asked the viewers to search for the same on Google to get shocking results.
When the complainant did a Google search of the question, he noted objectionable material outraging religious feelings.
The accused claimed he had not intended to or deliberately displayed the status to outrage the feelings of any religious group, and since WhatsApp status can be seen only by those who have saved the number of the other person, he had no intention to spread hatred.
The bench in its order said the WhatsApp status uploaded by the accused instigated others to do a Google search and read what the accused person wanted them to.
The FIR prima facie discloses the accused person's deliberate and malicious intention to insult the feeling of a particular group, the court said and refused to quash the case.
"The applicant cannot shed his responsibility by saying the WhatsApp status is limited circulation. There is no justification for the applicant to display such a status," the HC said.
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We need to create system in which people's skills get their due: Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Friday called for creating a system in which people's skills get their due and everyone's contribution is respected, as he shared a Diwali video in which he interacts with paint job workers and potters.
Posting the over nine-minute video which features him also having a conversation with his nephew Raihan Rajiv Vadra on YouTube, the former Congress chief said, "A memorable Diwali with special people - I celebrated this Diwali working with some painter brothers and making earthen diyas with a potter family."
"I saw their work closely, tried to learn their skills and understood their difficulties and problems. They don't go home. We celebrate festivals happily and to earn some money, they forget their village, city, family," Gandhi said.
"They make happiness from clay. While lighting up the festivals of others, are they able to live in light themselves? Those who build houses can hardly run their own houses!" he said.
Gandhi said Diwali means light that can remove the darkness of poverty and helplessness.
"We have to create such a system -- in which people's skills get their due and contribution is respected -- makes everyone's Diwali a happy one. I hope this Diwali brings prosperity, progress and love in the lives of all of you," he said.
In the video, Gandhi is seen working with labourers at the 10 Janpath residence and learning to paint walls along with his nephew. In the second part of the video, Gandhi goes to the house of a woman who makes earthen lamps with her five daughters.
Gandhi tries his hand at pottery and makes 'diyas', which he says he would give to his mother and sister.
Since his Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra and his Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi has been interacting with a cross-section of people from mechanics and cobblers to labourers and bus drivers.
He often posts videos of his numerous interactions and highlights the plight of various sections of society.
