Nithyakalyani Narayanan. V
The Bombay High Court has advised WhatsApp users to be responsible while communicating on the platform. This comes as the Nagpur Bench denied quashing a case against a man for allegedly posting a message that promotes hatred towards a religious group.
A Division Bench of Justice Vinay Joshi and Justice Valmiki SA Menezes remarked that – “The very purpose of WhatApp status is to convey something to his contacts. It is nothing but a mode of communication with known persons. One puts up the status in order to get a reaction and most of them crave for support. Nowadays, people are checking WhatApp status now and then. One should behave with a sense of responsibility while communicating something to others. “
The court rejected the plea of Kishor Landkar, who requested to quash the FIR lodged against him for the offence punishable under Sections 295-A of the IPC, Section 3(1)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Section 67-A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
In March 2023, Landkae allegedly uploaded a WhatsApp status which was religiously offensive. It contained a question, prompting viewers to search for it on Google to obtain shocking results. When the complainant searched for the question, objectionable material appeared that outraged religious feelings. Landkar claimed that he did not intend to offend any religious group with his status and that it could only be seen by those who had saved his contact number.
The Bench noted that the status uploaded by Landkar encouraged others to search on Google and view what he wanted them to see- “The applicant cannot shed his primacy responsibility by saying about its limited circulation. There is no justification for the applicant to display such kind of status. Contents of FIR prima facie, discloses applicant’s deliberate and malicious intention to insult the feeling of a group.”
Denying quashing the plea, the court held that– “There is no denial that the applicant has kept the mobile WhatApp status as alleged in the FIR. The investigation is in embryos stage and therefore, this is not a fit case to invoke our inherent powers. In view of that, application carries no merits, hence rejected.”
Name of the case: Kishor s/o Pandurang Landkar v. State of Maharashtra &Anr.
Bench: Justice Vinay Joshi and Justice Valmiki SA Menezes