LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court has refused to quash criminal proceedings against a man, accused of posting objectionable comments on Facebook against Lord Shiva.
Observing that such offences, which have a tendency to promote hatred between classes of people or communities, should be put down with an iron fist, the court dismissed a petition filed by one Asif of Aligarh district. Justice JJ Munir observed: “Offences of the kind that have a tendency to promote hatred between classes of people have to be put down with a heavy hand. These offences cannot be permitted to flourish in society by adopting a soft-pedalling approach at the cost of widespread damage to the community.”
The allegation against the applicant was that he had posted objectionable comments on his Facebook post regarding Lord Shiva which had hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. There have been further comments fomenting communal hatred by the other co-accused in the comments section of the FB account.