Merely Posting Message To Show Support To A Country Will Not Attract Offence U/s. 152 BNS: Allahabad High Court Grants Bail In 'Pakistan Zindabad' Posts Case
The High Court was considering a bail application filed by a man who was accused of forwarding a post containing slogan 'Pakistan Zindabad'
The Allahabad High Court held that merely posting a message to simply show support for any country may create anger or disharmony among citizens of India and may also be punishable under Section 196 of the BNS, but definitively will not attract the ingredients of Section 152 of the BNS.
The Bench of Justice Santosh Rai observed, “For attracting the ingredients of Section 152 BNS, there must be purpose by spoken or written words, signs, visible representations, the electronic communication to promote secession, armed rebellion, subversive activities or encourages feeling of separating activities or endangers the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Therefore merely posting a message to simply shows supporting of any country may create anger or disharmony among citizens of India and may also be punishable under Section 196 BNS which is punishable up to seven years but definitively will not attract the ingredients of Section 152 BNS."
Advocate Ajay Kumar Pandey represented the Applicant.
Case Brief
A bail application was moved on behalf of Accused-Applicant seeking enlargement on bail under Section 152 of the B.N.S.
It was submitted that the Accused-Applicant was in jail since May 13, 2025 and has been falsely implicated in this case due to ulterior motives. The Accused-Applicant contended that he only forwarded the post regarding 'Pakistan Zindabad' and he has not posted/circulated any video anywhere.
While the State contended that the Accused-Applicant has committed this type of offence previously also but it is admitted that applicant has no criminal history to his credit. It was also contended that the Accused-Applicant made a comment on the post of a person from Pakistan. On inquiry of his Facebook ID, it was found that earlier he tried to commit such offence and has endangered the integrity and sovereignty of India. In the post, he stated, 'Kamran Bhatti Proud of You, Pakistan Zindabad'.
Court’s Observation
The High Court noted that Section 152 BNS is a new Section providing stringent punishment and there was no corresponding section in IPC, therefore, before invoking the Section 152 BNS, reasonable care and standards of reasonable person should be adopted as spoken words or posts on social media was also covered by the liberty of freedom of speech and expression, which should not be narrowly construed unless it was of such nature which effect the sovereignty and integrity of a country or encourages separatism.
The Court observed, “For attracting the ingredients of Section 152 BNS, there must be purpose by spoken or written words, signs, visible representations, the electronic communication to promote secession, armed rebellion, subversive activities or encourages feeling of separating activities or endangers the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. Therefore merely posting a message to simply shows supporting of any country may create anger or disharmony among citizens of India and may also be punishable under Section 196 BNS which is punishable up to seven years but definitively will not attract the ingredients of Section 152 BNS.”
However, keeping in view the uncertainty regarding conclusion of trial; applicant being under-trial having fundamental right to speedy trial; larger mandate of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and considering overcrowding in jails over and above their capacity by under trials, the Court released the Accused-Applicant on bail.
Accordingly, the Application was dismissed.
Cause Title: Sajid Chaudhary V. State of UP (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:173870)
