“Chanting Jai Shri Ram slogans in a mosque is not an insult to religious sentiments” – Karnataka High Court
While hearing a communal case, the Karnataka High Court has said that, “Raising slogans of Jai Shri Ram in the mosque does not insult the religious sentiments of any community.” With this decision, the Karnataka High Court has dismissed the ongoing case against two accused Kirtan Kumar and Sachin Kumar. Let us tell you that this case was registered in South Kannada district of Karnataka in September last year.
In this case, the complainant has alleged that two accused Kirtan Kumar and Sachin Kumar entered the mosque at night and raised slogans of Jai Shri Ram. On this, the police had registered a case against both the accused under sections 295A, 447, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In such a situation, the bench headed by Justice M Nagaprasanna has said while hearing that, “Section 295A deals with those crimes which deliberately and maliciously insult the religious sentiments of a community. The religious sentiments of any community have not been hurt by raising the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.”
Karnataka High Court rejects state government’s demand
The state government had demanded an inquiry into the matter from the High Court, which has been rejected. Also, while dismissing the case, the court had said that, “Nothing has come to light in this case which has had any negative impact on public order or peace. The court also said that continuing such cases without any concrete reason would be an abuse of the judicial process and may lead to miscarriage of justice.”
Along with this, a media report said that, “The apex court said that no crime of any kind can be proved under Section 295A of the IPC. Crimes which do not have the risk of disturbing the peace or endangering public order will not be crimes under Section 295A of the IPC. In the absence of concrete evidence or elements in any alleged crime, allowing further proceedings against these petitioners would be an abuse of the process of law and as a result, justice will be killed.”
