The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, December 16 sought the position of Karnataka regarding a petition challenging the state High Court’s ruling that shouting “Jai Shri Ram” inside a mosque doesn’t constitute an offence and hurt anyone’s religious sentiments.
This inquiry stemmed from a case involving two persons accused of barging Badriya Juma Masjid in Dakshina Kannada district and shouting the Jai Shri Ram slogan, which has become a point of debate on violation of religious sentiments and inter-religious harmony.
SC proceedings
During the Supreme Court’s hearing, Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Sandeep Mehta questioned how shouting a religious slogan could be considered a crime.
In response, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat representing the petitioner Haydhar Ali argued that such actions could provoke communal enmity, hatred and altercations between different groups which is offensive under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that criminalizes the promotion of enmity between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, or other grounds.
He stressed that allowing further proceedings was crucial to uphold order and prevent potential communitarian tension.
The bench asked the advocate Kamat whether merely being present at the mosque constituted proof of a criminal act. Kamat said that CCTV footage had revealed the accused people, however, Justice Mehta questioned how their presence alone was enough to prove that they had incited the congregation for communal enmity.
“I am only representing the complainant (caretaker of the mosque) and it is for the police to conduct the investigation and collect the evidence. The FIR need only give information about the offence and need not be an ‘encyclopedia’ containing all evidence, Kamat as reported by Live Law.
Meanwhile, the SC has scheduled further hearings for January 2025 to consider these arguments more thoroughly.
The plea before the Supreme Court
According to the petition, the High Court’s approach was overly pedantic in its analysis, focusing narrowly on whether the FIR’s ingredients were met without paying regard to the consequences of inter-communal harmony and maintenance of public order.
The petition criticizes the High Court’s comments that raising “Jai Shri Ram” slogans inside mosques cannot amount to an offence that outrages religious feelings. The petition suggests that such remarks are dismissive of the realities faced by minority communities in India.
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