Kerala HC Quashes Criminal Proceedings Against College Principal, Students For Article Published In Magazine [Read Order]

The attempt is nothing but to shut the mouth of the citizens and this is nothing but an act against the freedom of speech and expression, the court said.

The High Court of Kerala has quashed a criminal case against the principal and some students of Sri Vivekananda Arts and Science College for publishing some article in the college magazine allegedly defaming Hindu rituals and the Indian Army.

The principal and the students approached the high court seeking to quash the case filed against them. The subject of the complaint is an article with the caption “Chorathilappu”, which was the verbatim reproduction of a portion of a book named Fascism Valarunna Vazhi, written by a person named Dr MM Akbar.

Justice Kemal Pasha, who heard the plea, went through the article and the book and observed: “It does not contain anything which promotes communal hatred. It is false to state that the contents of the said article humiliate or defame the followers of Hindu religion or the Hindu rites and rituals. It is not correct to say that it defames the Indian Military”.

The court also observed that the original author has not been arraigned as an accused in the crime and no proceedings were initiated against the said person.

“Without lifting even the little finger against the person, who wrote and published the book, the unfortunate students and the Principal of a College have been unnecessarily proceeded against for an offence which is not even in their contemplation,” the judge said.

“Under the guise of protecting the rights of Hindus, unnecessarily, the petitioners have been proceeded against. The attempt is nothing but to shut the mouth of the citizens and this is nothing but an act against the freedom of speech and expression,” the court said, while quashing the criminal proceedings.