Allahabad High Court: A Division Bench of Samit Gopal and Ramesh Sinha, JJ., while addressing the present petition made the following observation:
“…the freedom of speech cannot be extended to such extent which may be prejudicial to the National interest.”
Counsel for the petitioners: N.I. Jafri, Senior Advocate assisted by Khalid Mahmood, Counsel for the petitioners, Meena A.G.A appearing for the State.
Petitioner seeks quashing of the FIR by the present petition, which has been registered under Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, Sections 153-A, 153- B and 124-A of Penal Code, 1860.
Petitioners Counsel submitted that petitioner shared posts against the activities of the Government on her Facebook which is said to be an Anti-National activity and she is also alleged in making posts on Facebook against the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from 2014 to 2017 but she did not share posts after 2017, while the F.I.R. has been lodged in the year 2020.
Further, he adds that the petitioner had simply shared the Facebook posts on somebody else’s Facebook post which does not at all amount to spreading disharmony or feeling of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religions and is not prejudicial to National Integration and hence no offence is disclosed against the petitioner.
He also submits that whatever the petitioner has stated in her posts is her right to freedom of speech.
Decision
Bench on perusal of the above states that the material which has been posted by the petitioner appears to be of serious, one which may incite communal disharmony and the impugned FIR discloses cognizable offence against the petitioner, hence no interference is called for by this Court.
Present petition lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed.[Dr Imrana Khan v. State of U.P., Criminal Misc. WP No. 8632 of 2020, decided on 03-09-2020]
