Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh rules that indefinite imprisonment for a forwarded WhatsApp post is unjustified
NEW DELHI – A Muslim lecturer in Madhya Pradesh, arrested on April 28 over a forward post related to the Pahalgam terror attack, was recently granted bail by the state high court.
Dr Nasheem Bano, Guest Faculty at Government Model College at Dindori town, was booked under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in April.
Granting her bail, Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh said she cannot be kept in prison indefinitely for a forwarded post on WhatsApp, the Bar and Bench website said on Tuesday.
“Prima facie at the outset it can very safely said that an educated persons and persons, who are holding post of Guest Faculty in the college had greater responsibility to forward WhatsApp messages, but simply on the ground of forwarding messages, video which may hurt the religious sentiment of community, a person cannot be indefinitely kept in jail,” Justice Singh said in his order on 12 June.
Days after the Pahalgam attack, Dr Bano had posted a WhatsApp status that described the killing of Hindus after inquiring about their names and the coercion of Muslims to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as acts of terrorism. She had also forwarded a video titled ‘Naya Rawan’ on a college WhatsApp group.
On 30 April, a trial court had denied bail to the lecturer. Challenging the trial court ruling, Dr Bano’s counsel argued in the high court that she is an educated woman and she did not mean to hurt any religious sentiments of any community.
Opposing her bail plea, the State said that she had deliberately forwarded WhatsApp messages and a video to hurt the religious sentiments of the community.
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the court found it fit to grant bail to the accused.
“It is directed that the applicant (Dr Nasheem Bano) shall be released on bail on her furnishing a personal bond in a sum of Rs.50,000 with one solvent surety in the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court concerned for her appearance before the said court on all such dates as may be fixed by that court in this regard during the pendency of trial,” the high court order said.
