Petitioners File Case For Hurt Hindu Sentiments, Bombay High Court Says: Get A Sense Of Humour

The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court set aside an FIR filed against five individuals for allegedly hurting sentiments of the Hindu religion. The Bench stated that there is a deterioration in tolerance levels in India, due to the absence of humour, Live Law said.

The Bench comprised of Justice TV Nalawade and Justice Vibha Kankanwadi. They observed that, “Here only it needs to be observed that in India due to the absence of humour the tolerance level has gone to shocking down. Those “few” who want to get political advantage by raising such issue or who want to create a rift in the society or those who are oversensitive and take such posts seriously have created problems for our society.”

A petition was filed by Ashok Deshmukh and four of his friends, who were charged for insulting Hindu religion for comparing a movie character from Sairat to Lord Parashuram. The other four were booked for merely commenting in support and ‘liking’ Ashok’s post on social media.

The Bench said that it is the Court’s duty to stand up for rights that call for free speech and expression.

“Democracy involving the right to quality and freedom of expression is also achievements of enlightenment movement. The questioning of traditional authority and superstition is a part of that process. If the person, who has questioned rational behind the proposition or story due to which traditional authority was established and continued and the proposition, which amounts to superstition, is allowed to be prosecuted only for such questioning, that step will stop human development. That is why Courts need to be very cautious in the matters like the present one,” it said.

The Court then asserted an interpretation of Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Bench ruled that the content is nowhere offensive to any community or caste, and discarded the FIR.