Merely Liking A Post On Social Media Doesn't Amount To Publishing Or Transmitting Obscene Material: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that merely liking a post on Social Media will not amount to publishing or transmitting the said post and therefore, the act will not attract Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 which provides for punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.

The bench of Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal further observed that the words appearing in Section 67 of the IT Act are "lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest" which means relating to sexual interest and desire, and therefore, the provision does not prescribe any punishment for any other provocative material.

The bench made these observations while dealing with a charge sheet, cognizance order as well as the non-bailable warrant quashing plea filed by one Mohd Imran Kazi who had been accused of posting certain provocative messages on social media, which resulted in the assembly of about 600-700 persons belonging to the Muslim community for arranging procession without permission, which caused a serious threat to breach of peace.

It was contended by his counsel that there was no material against him and even the report of Cyber Crime Cell itself shows that no content was found on the Facebook account of the applicant.

Appearing before the HC, the concerned IO submitted that the accused-applicant had essentially liked a post of one Chaudhari Farhan Usman in which it was mentioned that they would assemble before the collectorate to hand over the memorandum to Hon'ble the President of India.

At the outset, perusing Section 67 of the IT Act, the Court noted that this provision punishes a person when he publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which tends to deprave and corrupt persons who read, see or hear aforesaid material/message contained or embodied.

The Court further added that the allegations against the applicant in the case diary stated that the applicant had merely liked the post of one Farhan Usman for unlawful assembly, however, the same wouldn't amount to publishing or transmitting the post.

"Even otherwise, from the material on record, it appears that no message which could be provocative in nature is available on record and merely liking a message published by Chaudhari Farhan Usman will not attract penalty u/s 67 of I.T. Act or any other criminal offence," the Court remarked as it stressed that Section 67 IT Act is for obscene material and not for other provocative material.

Against this backdrop, having heard counsel for the applicant and having perused the record, the Court did not find any material which could connect the applicant with any objectionable post, as there is no offensive post available in the Facebook and WhatsApp accounts of the applicant.

Therefore, finding no case to be made out against the applicant, the Court allowed the applicant's plea and thus, it quashed proceedings in case u/s 147, 148, 149 IPC, Section 67 IT qua the applicant.

Case title - Mohd Imran Kazi vs. State of U.P. and Another [APPLICATION U/S 482 No. - 31091 of 2023]

Case Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (AB) 394

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