Sakshi Chhabra
An FIR was registered against Sunaina Holey under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly creating enmity between two religious’ groups after a video was reposted on her Twitter handle.
The Bombay High Court held that just because the petitioner’s point of view may sound extreme, it does not amount to hate speech.
This case was heard by the bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik.
The court held that “State’s approach towards the tweet is hypersensitive and over-cautious thereby trying to scent danger in the hostile point of view expressed by Holey.”
The Court went on to observe, “The right to express one’s views is a protected and cherished right in our democracy. Merely because the point of view of the Petitioner is extreme or harsh will not make it a hate speech as it is only expressing a different point of view.”
The court further stated that no names were mentioned in the tweet and it has to be judged from a strong point of view.
Furthermore, no substantial evidence was found that stated hatred or enmity towards any religious community.
The re-post and statements made by Holey was just her point of view and she was not the author of the video herself.
“Assuming that the said tweet is an extreme view expressed in retaliation to the view expressed by one of the members of the crowd who was blaming the Prime Minister of India for the outbreak of the pandemic, the said tweet has still to be judged from the standpoint of what the reaction of a strong-minded, reasonable or a prudent person would be,” the Court held.
The Court concluded that even if all the facts and evidence are taken at their face value still an offence cannot be registered against the petitioner.
While stating its judgement the court also appreciated the police force for taking appropriate steps and controlling the social media platforms in order to avoid any mishap.