'How's that an offence?': SC on 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan inside mosque

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned how raising "Jai Shri Ram" slogan was a criminal act. Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta raised this point while reviewing an appeal against the Karnataka high court's decision to dismiss proceedings against two individuals accused of shouting the slogan inside a mosque.
The apex court asked complainant Haydhar Ali C M how a particular religious phrase or a name was an offence.
Earlier on September 13, the Karnataka high court had quashed the criminal proceedings agaisnt two persons in this matter.
The court also questioned how the accused who allegedly entered the mosque were identified. "How do you identify these respondents? You say they are all under the CCTV," the bench asked senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, who was representing the petitioner.
"Who identified the persons who came inside?" the bench questioned further.
Meanwhile, Kamat said that the high court terminated proceedings despite an incomplete investigation.
The court observed that the allegations failed to meet the requirements of IPC Sections 503 and 447, which address criminal intimidation and trespass respectively.
Kamat, referring to the complaint, said an FIR was not an encyclopedia of offences. He, when questioned about the identification of the actual persons who entered the mosque, said that the state police would need to provide this information.
The court ordered the petitioner to deliver a copy of the appeal to the state and scheduled the next hearing for January 2025.
"It is not understandable as to how if someone shouts 'Jai Sri Ram' it would outrage the religious feeling of any class," the high court had said in its order. The court also said that there were no claims of the incident causing public disorder or communal discord.
"The complaint itself narrates that the complainant has not even seen who is the one who is alleged to have committed offence of criminal intimidation attracting ingredients of section 506 of the IPC," the court said.
The HC ruling addressed a petition from two individuals seeking to nullify the FIR and legal proceedings against them. They were accused of entering a mosque and shouting religious slogans.
The incident reportedly occurred on September 24, 2023, leading to a complaint being registered at the Kadaba Police Station in Puttur circle.
According to the complainant's statement, unidentified individuals had allegedly entered the mosque and shouted "Jai Shri Ram" while making threats.
The high court concluded that without evidence of any alleged offences, continuing proceedings against the petitioners would constitute legal abuse and result in judicial impropriety.