The Allahabad High Court on Friday refused to quash a first information report filed against a man for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other ministers in the Union Cabinet, Live Law reported.
The FIR was registered at Meerganj police station in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. According to it, Mumtaz Mansoori is accused of calling the ministers “dog” on his Facebook account, Live Law reported.
Subsequently, Mansoori was booked under Section 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act.
On Friday, a bench of Justices Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Rajendra Kumar-IV dismissed Mansoori’s petition to quash the FIR filed against him.
“Although constitution of this country recognises freedom of speech with every citizen but such right does not extend to hurling abuses or making derogatory remarks against any citizen much less the prime minister or other ministers of the Government of India,” the bench observed.
The judges said that the FIR “clearly discloses commissioning of a cognisable offence” on part of Mansoori.
“We find no good ground to interfere in the present writ petition filed with a prayer to quash such first information report,” they said.
The bench directed the police to proceed with the matter in accordance with the law and conclude the investigation against Mansoori.
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