S. 295 IPC | Throwing Earth Material, Stones On Grave While Digging Land Doesn't Damage It, No Religious Sentiments Are Hurt: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court while quashing a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against a businessman under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) held that mere throwing of earth material (soil, rocks etc) and stones on a grave while carrying out a digging work nearby it, would not amount to damaging, destroying or defiling the grave to hurt the religious sentiments.

Sitting at Aurangabad, a bench of Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Santosh Chapalgaonkar noted that the petitioner Shaikh Tareq Mohammad Abdul Latif, had instructed some persons to level the land, he owned, which was abutting the grave. The judges noted that during the digging activity, some earth material was found to be thrown on the grave along with stones. 

"No damage or defiliation of grave could be noticed," the judges noted from the case papers.

The judges, further, referred to section 295 of the IPC, which penalises any act of injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class. The bench said that to prove a case under this act, a damage or defilement of any place of worship or sacred object held by class of persons would be necessary to be established, along with an intention of insulting religion of class of person or with knowledge that class of persons is likely to consider such destruction as an insult to their religion.

Admittedly, in present case, the bench said, there is nothing to show that damage is caused to the object of worship.

"The word 'defile' cannot be confined to the idea of making, dirty but must also be extended to ceremonial pollution, but it is certainly necessary to prove pollution. In present case, from the contents of FIR and panchanama it can be seen that object of on going work at the place was leveling land, which is of private ownership and no existence of grave yard was seen. In adjacent gut number, existence of some graves was noted and during cleaning or leveling, some earth material appears to have been flown to the graves. Accepting all these contents as it is, it is difficult to to stretch factual matrix to such an extent to bring it within mischief, which is made punishable under Section 295 of the IPC," the judges said.

The object of Section 295, the bench emphasised, is to punish those persons, who intentionally wound religious feelings of others by injuring or defiling places of worship. The core of section is to prevent wanton insult to religious notions of class of persons, it added.

"In present case, applicant belongs to same class of citizen as that of the informant. There is nothing in the charge-sheet that would depict his intention to defile or damage any object held as sacred by class of persons. In fact, there is nothing to depict that applicant involved or indulged himself in any act of injuring or defiling sacred place with intention to insult religion or class," the judges said.

Further the bench pointed at the possibility of a civil dispute being turned into criminal prosecution and malicious use of procedure on part of the complainant and therefore, quashed the FIR.

Appearance:

Advocates VA Munde and SS Thombre appeared for the Applicant.

Additional Public Prosecutor GA Kulkarni represented the State.

Advocate KN Bhosale was appointed to represent the Complainant. 

Case Title: Shaikh Tareq Mohammad Abdul Latif vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Application 1158 of 2022)

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