Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The Karnataka High Court has quashed a criminal case against Sandeep Kumar, administrator of the social media account Karnataka Portfolio, for reposting a report about six youths allegedly threatening a woman with a knife in Puttur, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The court held that the allegations did not constitute the offence of circulating false information or rumours with the intention of promoting enmity or hatred between communities. It also issued guidelines to prevent the routine registration of criminal cases over social media posts, multiple FIRs over the same incident and arbitrary use of police powers.
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Justice M Nagaprasanna pronounced the order on October 16 while hearing Kumar’s petition. He was represented by advocate Girish Bharadwaj. The court directed the Karnataka Director General and Inspector General of Police to ensure strict compliance with its guidelines.
According to PTI, the court observed: “It is not a stray incident or a generated incident that the petitioner re-posts. It was a serious incident of six young men forming a group, following or stalking a woman in their Thar SUV and threatening her time and again.”
The court said Kumar had only posted the words “law and order under fire”. It also noted that seven cases had been registered at the same police station in connection with the incident.
The court found that neither the complaint nor Kumar’s post named any religious group or indicated an intention to promote communal disharmony. Citing Supreme Court judgments, it said the offence required essential elements, including an intention to promote enmity between groups. It also underlined the constitutional protection of freedom of speech and expression.
Under the guidelines, the court directed the police to examine whether the necessary elements of an alleged offence were present in cases involving social media posts. It asked the police to scrutinise successive complaints relating to the same incident and avoid registering fresh cases merely because the complainants were different, unless a separate offence was disclosed.
The court also said the registration of a criminal case should not automatically lead to an arrest. It directed the police to follow the safeguards under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
Allowing Kumar’s petition, the High Court quashed the FIR registered by Puttur police and directed the Karnataka DGP and IGP to ensure that the guidelines were followed “in letter and spirit”. The ruling cleared Kumar of the case while setting safeguards for police action over social media posts and repeated complaints arising from the same incident.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
