New Delhi: The Karnataka high court has said in a judgment that shouting “Jai Shri Ram” inside a mosque did not “outrage the religious feelings of any class”.
The high court passed the judgment last month while quashing criminal proceedings against two men who were booked for insulting religious beliefs of citizens, reported Bar and Bench.
“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 ununderstandable 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,” said the court order passed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna.
According to the case against the two men, they had entered a local mosque in September last year and shouted “Jai Shri Ram.” The two men were booked under various sections of the IPC including sections 295A, 447 and 506.
“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 Karnataka high court said in its order.
