The cybercrime division of the Bengaluru Police on Tuesday registered a case against the administrator of a Facebook page and another person for their posts against a Karnataka High Court judge who is part of the bench hearing the hijab case, the Hindustan Times reported.
The case was registered based on a suo moto complaint against a post on the Facebook page “Mangalore Muslims”, and another post by an individual named Ateeq Shariff on February 23, according to The Indian Express.
According to the newspaper, the Facebook page is popular for bringing up issues concerning the Muslim community.
The police said the posts on the page were derogatory and cast aspersions on the judge.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices JM Khazi and Krishan S Dixit of the Karnataka High Court had been hearing pleas filed by the students of the state’s Government Women’s Pre-University College seeking permission to wear hijab to educational institutions.
The students have been protesting since last month after they were not allowed to attend classes while being dressed in a hijab. On February 25, the Bench said it had reserved its verdict on the pleas but did not give a date for pronouncing its verdict.
In Tuesday’s case, the police had said that apart from those named in the complaint, there may also be penal action against those who had liked the post, the Hindustan Times reported, quoting an unidentified police officer.
The case had been registered under Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and Section 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 66 (use of computer devices to send offensive messages) of the Information Technology Act.
On February 23, Kannada actor and human rights activist Chetan Kumar was arrested for a tweet against the same judge.
In his tweet, the actor had said that the judge had made “disturbing comments” while granting pre-arrest bail to an accused in a rape case. “Does he [judge] have the clarity required?” Kumar had tweeted on February 16.
The actor was granted bail on February 25.
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