NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned how raising "Jai Shri Ram" slogan is a criminal act. Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta raised this point while reviewing an appeal against the Karnataka high court's decision to dismiss proceedings against two individuals accused of shouting the slogan inside a mosque. The apex court asked complainant Haydhar Ali C M that how a particular religious phrase or a name is an offence.
Earlier on September 13, the Karnataka high court had quashed the criminal proceedings agaisnt two persons in this matter. The court also questioned how the accused who allegedly entered the mosque were identified. "How do you identify these respondents? You say they are all under the CCTV," the bench asked senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, who was representing the petitioner.
"Who identified the persons who came inside?" the bench questioned further. Meanwhile, Kamat said that the high court terminated proceedings despite an incomplete investigation. The court observed that the allegations failed to meet the requirements of IPC Sections 503 and 447, which address criminal intimidation and trespass respectively.
Kamat, referring to the complaint, said an FIR was not an encyclopedia of offences. He, when questioned about the identification of the actual persons who entered the mosque, said that the state police would need to provide this information. The court ordered the petitioner to deliver a copy of the appeal to the state and scheduled the ne.