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We cannot ignore the fact that the petitioner is a highly qualified person and was taking part as a spokesperson of a political party and thus, it can not be pleaded that the act was done ignorantly, the bench held
The Allahabad High Court has declined to quash the FIR registered against Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) spokesperson Priyanka Bharti for tearing pages of Manusmriti during a live television debate.
The bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Anish Kumar Gupta held that the act prima facie constituted a cognizable offence under Section 299 of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which penalizes deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
Bharti, a Ph.D. scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a politically active member of the RJD, was participating in a debate on India TV and TV9 Bharatvarsh when she tore pages from Manusmriti in protest. Following this, an FIR was registered against her at Roravar Police Station in Aligarh under Section 299 BNS.
Her counsel argued that the act was not done with malicious intent and cited Supreme Court precedents, including Mahendra Singh Dhoni v. Yerraguntla Shyamsundar, which held that unintentional insults to religion do not attract penal provisions. He contended that Bharti's actions were a form of political expression, not a deliberate attempt to incite religious outrage.
However, the state opposed the petition, stating that the act of tearing a religious text during a live broadcast was an overt act of provocation, warranting investigation. The high court agreed, emphasizing that Bharti, being an educated individual and a political spokesperson, could not claim ignorance of the potential impact of her actions.
Relying on the Supreme Court’s rulings in Ramji Lal Modi v. State of UP and Amish Devgan v. Union of India, the bench observed that while freedom of speech is protected under Article 19 of the Constitution, it is subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of public order. The court stressed that acts intended to insult religious beliefs, if committed with deliberate and malicious intent, fall within the scope of penal laws.
The bench said, "We find that the act of tearing pages of "Manusmriti" holy book of a particular religion in a live TV debate which was being organized by the two TV channels "India TV" and "TV9 Bharatvarsh" was nothing but prima facie, reflection of a malicious and deliberate intention of the petitioner and is an act done without any lawful excuse or without any just cause. We cannot ignore the fact that the petitioner is a highly qualified person and was taking part as a spokesperson of a political party and thus, it can not be pleaded that the act was done ignorantly. Therefore, in our opinion, prima facie a cognizable offence is made out".
Accordingly, the high court refused to interfere with the FIR, dismissing Bharti’s petition.
Case Title: Priyanka Bharti Vs. State Of U.P. And 3 Others
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