In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court reiterated that the core requirement for constituting an offence under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is to sow seeds of enmity and disharmony among different groups or communities. Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta, while adjudicating a plea by Uttarakhand-based news portal operator Shiv Prasad Semwal, emphasized that mere publication of words, without inciting hatred or discord, does not warrant prosecution under Section 153A IPC.
The case centered around allegations that Semwal’s online article, published in the ‘Parvatjan’ e-newspaper, incited enmity between the hill community and plainspeople by portraying disputed land ownership. However, the court found the complaint lacking in foundational facts essential to establishing an offence under Section 153A IPC.
The bench highlighted that Section 153A IPC requires the prosecution to demonstrate that the accused’s words or actions led to enmity or disharmony based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. In this instance, the court determined that the allegations failed to establish such divisiveness, as Semwal’s remarks solely criticized the complainant’s activities without targeting any particular group or community.
Citing the precedent set in the Bhajan Lal case, the Court emphasized that continuing legal proceedings against Semwal would constitute an abuse of the judicial process. It concluded that the allegations outlined in the FIR did not meet the necessary criteria for any cognizable offence under Section 153A IPC, thereby warranting the quashing of the pending criminal case against Semwal.
