The Allahabad High Court clarified that merely because a particular word or post on social media intends to insult a particular political party that is not inextricably associated with any religion or its belief will not attract the ingredients of Section 295-A IPC as it does not in any manner outrage the religious feeling or belief of a class of citizen.

The 482 Cr.P.C. application was filed to quash the entire proceedings in a Criminal Case registered under Section 295-A I.P.C pending in the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate.

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal asserted, “From the above analysis and legal position, it is clear that only those words which have been spoken or written with deliberate and malicious intention to hurt the religious feelings of any class of citizen, can be categorised as offence u/s 295-A I.P.C.”

Advocate Amir Khan represented the Applicant while the Government Advocate represented the Opposite Party.

Factual Background

It was alleged that the applicant made certain posts on social media regarding the Pulwama attack and also posted negative remarks regarding politics. This message itself became the basis for lodging of the F.I.R. and thereafter, filing of the impugned charge-sheet. No other material except the statement of opposite party no. 2 as well as the aforesaid message was the ground for filing the chargesheet.

Reasoning

Referring to section 295-A IPC, the Bench explained that to attract the liability u/s 295-A I.P.C., the basic condition is that the intention must be to outrage the religious feelings of any class of citizens, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of the class of citizens.

“On the perusal of the definition of Section 295-A I.P.C., it is clear that to attract the liability under this section, intention must be to outrage the religious feeling or religious belief of any class of citizen. If from the words, spoken or written or by any other mode, it appears that it was not for outraging the religious feeling but for other purpose like attacking on a political party or a particular group which is not associated in any manner to any particular religion, then the offence under this section will not be attracted. It is also clear from Section 295-A I.P.C. that the intention to outrage the religious feeling should be deliberate and malicious. Therefore, if a person insults a religion unwittingly or carelessly or without any deliberate or malicious intention to outrage the religious feeling, that will also not attract the liability u/s 295-A I.P.C.”, it further held.

Reliance was also placed upon the judgments of the Apex Court in Ramji Lal Modi Vs. State of U.P. (1957) and Amish Devgan Vs. Union of India, (2021). The Bench also observed, “ …merely because particular word or post on social media intends to insult a particular political party or a group who are not inextricably associated with any religion or its belief will not attract the ingredients of Section 295-A I.P.C. as it does not in any manner affect or outrage the religious feeling or belief of a class of citizen.”

On a perusal of the post of the applicant made by him on social media, the Bench held that no offence u/s 295-A I.P.C was made out and there was no material on record that apart from this post, any other post on social media was made by the applicant which could attract the ingredients of offence u/s 295-A I.P.C. Thus, the Bench quashed the entire proceedings instituted against the applicant.

Cause Title: Faraheem Qureshi v. State of U.P. and Another (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:10369)

Appearance:

Applicant: Advocate Amir Khan

Opposite Party: Government Advocate

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Allahabad High CourtJustice Arun Kumar Singh DeshwalSection 295A of IPCPolitical Leaders

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.