Capturing & Posting Injured Turbanless Man's Image Online Would Amount To Hurting Religious Sentiments: P&H High Court
Stressing that turban is an essential religious symbol, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently observed that photographing an elderly person in an injured condition without the turban and uploading it for public viewing on a social platform would prima facie amount to hurting the religious feelings.This assertion came from the bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal while dealing with...
Stressing that turban is an essential religious symbol, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently observed that photographing an elderly person in an injured condition without the turban and uploading it for public viewing on a social platform would prima facie amount to hurting the religious feelings.
This assertion came from the bench of Justice Anupinder Singh Grewal while dealing with the anticipatory bail plea of Gurpreet Singh and others who allegedly took off the turban of a 65 year old elderly and repeatedly beat him up.
Apart from this, allegedly, the petitioner and other accused also video-graphed him without the turban when he was bleeding and the same had been uploaded on Facebook. Thereafter, the petitioners were booked under sections 323, 341, 506, 295A, 148 & 149 IPC and Section 66-E of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
It was argued on their behalf that the said sections are bailable and prima facie case under Section 295-A would not be made out inasmuch as DSP in the inquiry had stated that the allegations of hurting the religious feelings of the complainant were not made out.
On the other hand, the counsel for the complainant contended that the turban of the 65-year-old complainant had been removed, was repeatedly beaten up and abused. Thereafter, the incident was video-recorded and uploaded on Facebook.
Stressing that the turban is an essential religious symbol and photographing an elderly person in an injured condition without the turban and uploading it for public viewing on a social platform would prima facie amount to hurting the religious feelings, the Court opined thus:
"I do not agree with the contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner that a prima facie case under Section 295-A IPC is not made out. In view of the serious allegations against the petitioner, I do not intend to grant the concession of anticipatory bail."
With this, the petition for anticipatory bail plea was dismissed.
Case title - Gurpreet Singh and Others v. State of Punjab
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