Times News Network
New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday asked a caretaker to explain how shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ inside the mosque outraged the religious feelings of his community and became an offence. It, however, sought Karnataka govt’s stand on his appeal against quashing of criminal proceedings against the two accused.
Appearing for the petitioner, caretaker Haydhar Ali, senior advocate Devadatt Kamat told the bench that shouting such slogans inside a mosque would amount to an attempt to stir communal strife and becomes an offence when accompanied by threat to lives of Muslims.
When Kamat, with advocate Javedur Rehman, argued that the HC should have allowed police to complete the probe and not stayed investigations within 20 days of registration of FIR, the bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta asked, “Alright, they were shouting a particular religious slogan. How is that an offence?”
Kamat said if persons from one faith shouted religious slogans inside the place of worship of another faith, it surely would be an offence. The bench said the FIR was registered based on CCTV footage that detected two persons moving around the mosque.
“What is the evidence apart from the CCTV footage to link the two to the incident,” the bench asked. Kamat said it was for the police to find out who were the persons responsible for disturbing communal harmony and threatening the Muslim community. The bench asked Rehman to serve the petition on the standing counsel for Karnataka to ascertain the state’s stand on the appeal by Ali challenging the HC decision.
The HC, on Sept 13, had quashed criminal proceedings before a Puttur court in Dakshina Kannada district, saying the FIR did not disclose ingredients of any offence. It was alleged that on Sept 24, 2023, some miscreants entered Badriya Juma Masjid at Aithoor Village, started shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’, and followed with threats that Muslims would not be allowed to live in peace. Ali had lodged a complaint with the police, leading to the arrest of the two.
