Madhya Pradesh high court dismisses man's petition over 'objectionable' post on Lord Rama, Hinduism

NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court has dismissed a man's petition seeking to quash an FIR against him. Mohammad Bilal had been charged for allegedly uploading an objectionable post on Instagram that targeted Lord Rama, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, and Hinduism.

Mohammad Bilal filed the petition to quash the FIR dated August 17, 2023. The charges included sections 294, 153A, 295A of the Indian Penal Code and sections 3(1) and 3(2) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. He claimed his Instagram account was hacked, and the offensive post was uploaded by someone else.

The high court, however, did not accept Bilal's defense. The court noted that when the complainant asked Bilal about the post, instead of explaining the situation.

"From the FIR it is clear that the complainant had inquired from the petitioner as to why an offensive post has been uploaded on his Instagram account. Then instead of explaining that the said post was uploaded by somebody else by hacking his account, he (petitioner) started abusing and humiliating the complainant and also hurt his religious feelings," a single bench of the high court comprising Justice GS Ahluwalia said.

"This conduct of the petitioner indicates that the defence of uploading the offensive post on his Instagram account by somebody else is incorrect. Since uploading of an offensive post on his Instagram account has been admitted by the petitioner himself, therefore, he had no right to react in a manner in which it was done with the complainant," the HC order of last month said.

The court emphasised that whether the allegations in the FIR are accurate or not cannot be determined at this stage and found that the FIR disclosed the commission of a cognizable offense.

The order concluded, "Considering the fact that the FIR in question discloses the commission of cognizable offence, no case is made out warranting interference."