The Allahabad High Court has stayed the arrest of an assistant teacher, who had allegedly made derogatory remarks against Hindu deities.
The Division Bench of Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Prashant Kumar passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Bhisham Pal Singh.
The petition has been preferred with the prayer to quash the First Information Report dated 17.07.2024, registered as Case under Section 299 of the BNS, 2023 at Police Station Cantt, District Gorakhpur and with a further prayer not to arrest the petitioner in pursuance of the impugned FIR.
As per the contents of the FIR, the informant came across a viral video on social media where a woman, Usha Sengar, who is employed as a teacher at Composite Vidyalaya, New Agra, allegedly made derogatory remarks against Hindu deities.
The FIR further alleged that she incited individuals present in the video to disrespect Hindu religious symbols, such as sindoor and bichhiya, and that she encouraged others to desecrate temples by striking them with footwear.
The FIR stated that such remarks have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and could create communal disharmony.
Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner, an assistant teacher and President of the SC/ST Basic Shikshak Mahasabha, challenges the registration of the impugned FIR on the grounds that the allegations against him are baseless and politically motivated.
He further submitted that the petitioner had no involvement in making any derogatory remarks or inciting communal disharmony, as alleged in the FIR. He contends that the petitioner was merely present at a meeting organized in District Gorakhpur and did not participate in any unlawful activities.
It is also submitted that the petitioner is a respectable person with no criminal history and has been falsely implicated in the case due to personal and political vendetta. He highlights that the informant herself has multiple FIRs registered against her in the past for disturbing public peace, indicating a pattern of filing frivolous complaints.
He said that the registration of the FIR is a violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights and seeks the intervention of the Court to grant relief against arbitrary and malicious prosecution. In light of these circumstances, he prays for the quashing of the impugned FIR and protection from any coercive action by the police.
The Court observed that the matter requires consideration.
The Court granted six weeks time to file counter affidavit for the respondents one week time to file rejoinder affidavit. List immediately thereafter.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, as an interim measure, it is provided that till the next date of listing or till submission of police report u/s 173(2) CrPC (now Section 193(3) of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023), whichever is earlier, respondents are restrained to arrest the petitioner pursuant to the impugned FIR, subject to cooperation in the on-going investigation,” the Court ordered.
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