The Karnataka High Court has quashed a first information report against 13 people in Mangaluru over posters opposing a 2019 Supreme Court verdict, holding that expressing disagreement with a judgment does not by itself amount to promoting enmity, hurting religious sentiments or disturbing public order.
Justice H.P. Sandesh passed the order while hearing criminal petitions filed by Mohammed Haneef and 12 others, who sought the cancellation of the case registered against them. The posters had been put up on roadside walls in Mangaluru and contained messages stating that justice had been denied and calling on people to raise their voices for justice.
According to the court’s observations, the posters represented disagreement with the Supreme Court judgment and did not constitute an attempt to promote hatred or damage communal harmony. The court also held that the act could not be treated as sedition or as an effort to create unrest, according to the report by Prajavani.
The police had registered a suo motu FIR at the Mangaluru South Pandeshwar police station. The case invoked Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with promoting enmity between groups; Section 295A, relating to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings; and Section 120B, concerning criminal conspiracy. The Karnataka Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 1981, was also applied.
The High Court said the language used in the posters fell within the protection of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. It observed that the possibility that some people might become angry could not, by itself, justify applying Sections 153A or 295A of the IPC.
The court further stated that the effect of a public statement or poster should be assessed from the perspective of an ordinary and reasonable member of society. This approach places the emphasis on the actual character and likely meaning of the expression rather than on the possibility that an individual or group may react adversely to it.
The case arose after posters opposing the 2019 Supreme Court verdict appeared on roadside walls in Mangaluru. The messages described the verdict as a denial of justice and urged people to raise their voices in pursuit of justice. The police subsequently registered the FIR against the 13 accused without waiting for a private complaint, according to the report.
The order has immediate significance for how police authorities assess public posters and statements that criticise judicial decisions. It also distinguishes disagreement with a court ruling from expression that meets the legal threshold for promoting enmity or deliberately offending religious sentiments. The High Court’s ruling, as reported, brings the proceedings against the petitioners to an end by quashing the FIR.
