MP High Court Refuses To Quash FIR Against 2 Men Accused Of Hurting Sentiments By Demolishing Shiva Temple Using JCB

The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently refused to quash an FIR filed against 2 men under section 295A IPC over allegations of demolishing a Shiva Temple through a JCB thereby hurting the religious sentiments of the devotees.

"In a case where named FIR has been lodged and a number of devotees have given their statements that the act of petitioners had hurt their religious feelings is a question of fact which can be decided only after the recording of the evidence of the witnesses only. In a petition under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. such jumbled questions cannot be decided," the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Paliwal observed as it dismissed the FIR quashing plea.

As per the allegations, petitioner no. 1 (Mahendra Vishwakarma) along with his brother petitioner no. 2 (Sanjay Vishwakarma) deliberately demolished the old Shiva Temple through JCB without any legal order by a competent authority or any Court and thereby, they intentionally hurt the religious feeling of the devotees.

Challenging the FIR, the counsel for the petitioners contended before the HC that during the course of the investigation, police did not collect any evidence to prove that Shiva Temple, which is alleged to have been demolished by the petitioners through JCB, was situated on any public land. Therefore, no offence is made out.

It was further submitted that as per the allegations, petitioner No.2 was only standing near the place where JCB was being used for the demolition of the Temple and there was no evidence against him that he in any way was involved in the demolition of the Temple or he did any act deliberately and maliciously with an intention to outrage the religious feelings of any class.

However, on the other hand, the counsel for the state submitted that the complainant has clearly stated in the FIR that the Shiva Temple was an old public Temple and it was built on a public road and that he and other devotees were regular in puja and offering water to the deity.

On perusal of the FIR, the Court found that there is ample material on record that the petitioners, by demolishing the old Shiva Temple, maliciously and intentionally hurt the religious feelings of the devotees.

Regarding the argument that the Temple was not situated on any public land and mere demolition of the Temple cannot be considered as hurting the religious feelings of a class of persons, the Court said that same involves jumbled questions of the fact which can be decided only after recording the evidence of the witnesses before the trial Court.

Hence, the Court dismissed the plea.

Case title - Mahendra Vishwakarma and another vs. State of Madhya Pradesh [MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 5161 of 2022]

Case Citation:

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