NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed criminal proceedings against Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim over her Facebook post in July last year while stating that free speech of the citizens cannot be stifled by implicating them in criminal cases, unless such speech has the tendency to affect public order.
A bench of Justices L N Rao and S Ravindra Bhat allowed Mukhim’s plea to set aside the proceedings against her.“Disapprobation of governmental inaction cannot be branded as an attempt to promote hatred,” the court said.
“India is a plural society. The promise of liberty, enunciated in the Preamble, manifests itself in various provisions which outline each citizen’s rights. At times, when in the legitimate exercise of such a right, individuals travel, settle down or carry on a vocation in a place where they find conditions conducive, there may be resentments, especially if such citizens prosper, leading to hostility.
In such instances, if the victims voice their discontent, especially if the state turns a blind eye, such voicing of discontent is really a cry for anguish, for justice denied or delayed. This is exactly what appears to have happened in this case.”
The case against her was lodged on July 7 last year by a village tribal body over her Facebook post of July 4. In that post, she had condemned an attack on some non-tribal boys and sought the intervention of the Meghalaya CM and to take remedial steps.