Derogatory Comments Against Woman Of Malaysian Origin 'For Spreading COVID'; Jharkhand HC Denies Pre-Arrest Bail To Govt. Employee [Read Order]

The Bench of Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay was hearing the plea of a petitioner, apprehending his arrest in connection with Jharia P.S. Case No. 84 of 2020.

Allegedly, the said post was circulated in a Whatsapp group prompting comments targeting a particular community. An enquiry was made and it was detected that the Admin of the group did not intervene in this matter.

The Court observed,

"Petitioner is a government employee and it was he who had posted the screenshot of Facebook in his Whatsapp group which prompted comments and could have incited communal flare-up."

The Court further emphasised,

"The allegations become all the more serious in view of the fact the petitioner is a government employee."

It was also observed by the Court that such circumstances do not entitle the petitioner for consideration of the grant of anticipatory bail to him. The application stood rejected.

It may be noted that in April 2020, the Bombay High Court had granted ad-interim relief to one Abuzar Abdul Kalam, a 42-year-old man who accused members of the Tablighi Jamaat of assaulting him and then spitting on him on social media. He was booked under Section 295 A and various other provisions of the IPC.

Justice SV Kotwal heard the anticipatory bail application filed by the accused via video conference. Accused was arrested by Mumbai police following registration of FIR against him under Sections 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage reli­gious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or reli­gious beliefs), 499 (defamation), 500 (Punishment For Defamation), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (Statements Conducing To Public Mischief) of IPC.

Further, in April 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had issued an advisory to address social stigma associated with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and therefore, curb the prejudices against people and communities, social isolation and stigma in wake of the public health emergency.

It came down heavily on false news reports and advises the sharing of only authentic material available on government websites.

Case Details:

Case Title: Shesh Nah Yadav v. The State Of Jharkhand

Case No.: A.B.A. No. 3380 of 2020

Quorum: Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay

Appearance: Advocate Kumar Amit (for the Petitioners); APP Ruby Pandey (for the State).