Shouting “Jai Shri Ram” inside mosque don’t hurt religious feelings, rules Karnataka HC quashing proceedings against two men : Valley Vision

On September 13, the High Court of Karnataka quashed criminal proceedings against two people, Keerthan Kumar and Sachin Kumar, ruling that shouting “jai shri ram” inside a mosque did not “outrage the religious feelings of any class”.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Hyder Ali, who alleged that the accused entered the mosque in Kadaba Taluk on September 24, 2023, shouted “Jai Shri Ram”, and threatened the community. Based on the complaint, the Kadaba police registered Crime No.86 of 2023 against the individuals, charging them with criminal trespass, outraging religious feelings, and criminal intimidation.

“Section 295A deals with deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. It is ununderstandable as to how if someone shouts ‘Jai Sri ram’ it would outrage the religious feelings of any class. When the complainant himself states that Hindu – Muslims are living in harmony in the area the incident by no stretch of imagination can result in antimony,” the High Court said.

The court also cited a Supreme Court precedent in the case of Mahendra Singh Dhoni vs. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar, emphasizing that Section 295A is applicable only when there is a clear demonstration of “deliberate and malicious intention” to outrage the religious sentiments of a particular community.

“Insults to religion offered unwittingly or carelessly or without any deliberate or malicious intention to outrage the religious feelings of that class do not come within the section,” the order stated, quoting from the Supreme Court judgment.

The court also addressed the charges of criminal trespass and criminal intimidation. It noted that the complainant had not even seen the individuals who allegedly committed these offences.

Moreover, the court questioned how entering a mosque, which is a public place, could be construed as criminal trespass.

The petitioner’s counsel had argued that a mosque was a public place and therefore, there was no case of criminal trespass. Besides, shouting jai shri ram did not meet the requirement of an offence defined under Section 295A of the IPC.

“Finding no ingredients of any of the offences so alleged, permitting further proceedings against these petitioners would become an abuse of the process of law and result in miscarriage of justice,” the order read.