Allahabad High Court Refuses to Quash FIR Against Afaq Ahmad for Allegedly Forwarding Inflammatory WhatsApp Message
By Rajesh Pandey
In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Afaq Ahmad, who sought the quashing of a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him for allegedly forwarding a WhatsApp message that could promote enmity and ill will between religious communities.
The judgment was delivered by a division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Pramod Kumar Srivastava on September 26.
The case pertains to a WhatsApp message purportedly sent by Ahmad to multiple recipients, which suggested that his brother had been targeted in a false legal case because he belonged to a particular religious community.
While the petitioner’s counsel contended that the message merely expressed personal resentment over his brother’s arrest and was not intended to disrupt public peace or communal harmony, the state government opposed the plea, highlighting its potential to incite communal tensions.
Court Observations
The bench carefully analyzed the content and implications of the forwarded message. Although the message did not explicitly reference religion, the court noted that it implicitly conveyed that the petitioner’s brother was allegedly targeted due to his community affiliation.
The court observed: Those unsaid words would prima facie outrage the religious feelings of a class of citizens belonging to a particular community, who could perceive that they are being targeted because of their religious identity.”
The court further stated that: Even if one were to consider that no religious sentiments were directly outraged by the WhatsApp message, it remains a message which, through its unsaid implications, is likely to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred, and ill-will between religious communities, where members of a particular group may feel that they are being unfairly targeted under the guise of law.”
Legal Implications Under Section 353(2) BNS
The bench emphasized that circulating such a message to multiple recipients, alleging the targeting of members of a particular religious community, prima facie fulfills the ingredients of Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which penalizes actions that promote communal disharmony and religious hatred.
Consequently, the court ruled that the petitioner cannot claim relief under Article 226 of the Constitution to preempt or interdict the ongoing investigation or any of its processes.
The writ petition was therefore dismissed, reaffirming that matters involving potential communal incitement warrant careful legal scrutiny and cannot be quashed merely on assertions of personal grievance.
Significance of the Judgment
This judgment underscores the judiciary’s strict stance against the circulation of messages that may incite communal discord, even when the language is subtle or indirect.
It reinforces that digital communications, especially on widely used platforms like WhatsApp, carry legal responsibility, and any content that could potentially outrage religious sentiments or foster enmity among communities is subject to investigation under relevant provisions of the law.
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