The Supreme Court has said that despite being called malicious, the use of words like “Mian-Tian” and “Pakistani” is not a crime for anyone to hurt religious sentiments. Justice B. A bench of V. Nagratna and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma released a person in a criminal case filed by an Urdu translator and acting clerk under the Right to Information (RTI) at the subdivision office in Chas, Jharkhand.
The court’s order of February 11 said, “The appellant is accused of hurting his religious sentiments by saying” Mian-Tian “and” Pakistani “. Undoubtedly, these things are said to be malicious. However, this is not the same as hurting the religious sentiments of the informant. Therefore, we believe that the appellant should also be acquitted under Section 298 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). ”Section 298 of the IPC is deliberately related to words or gestures with the intention of hurting religious sentiments.
It has been revealed in the record that accused Harinandan Singh had sought information from Additional Collector-cum-Appellate Authority, Bokaro under the Right to Information Act and information was sent to him. However, he filed an appeal before the appellate authority after allegedly manipulated the documents sent by the office registered by the office and making false allegations of manipulation in the documents. The appellate authority directed the translator to inform the appellant personally.
Along with the orderly order of the subdivision office, Chas, the informer reached the accused’s house on November 18, 2020 to inform. The accused first refused to take the document, but accepted the information on the insistence of the information. It is alleged that the accused, referring to the information of the information, abused him and used criminal force against him. The translator then lodged an FIR against the accused. After investigation, the lower court also ordered the accused to frame charges against the accused under Section 353 (using public servant or usage of criminal force) and 504 (deliberate insult).
The Jharkhand High Court dismissed the petition of the accused requested to cancel the proceedings. Hearing the petition of the person against the order of the High Court, a bench of the Supreme Court deliberately relieved him from the crime of insulting and said that apart from Section 353, “no such task was done by him that could disturb peace.” The court said, “We reject the High Court order, in which the lower court order was retained.” We accept the application filed by the appellant and free the appellant from the three allegations against him. ”
