Mumbai, Jul 29 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to quash a case against a Pune school teacher for allegedly posting derogatory messages and photos on a WhatsApp group after the Indian Army’s Operation Sindoor.
The messages posted by the accused woman in her housing society’s all-women WhatsApp group allegedly included a video showing the Indian national flag burning and mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Rajesh Patil in the order said the woman, a well-educated woman, had caused serious damage by her messages.
The content of the messages indicated a “clear mens rea” (intention to commit crime or knowledge that act would amount to crime), and required a thorough investigation, the court said.
The court dismissed the petition filed by the 46-year-old seeking to quash the FIR registered by Kalepadal police station, Pune in May.
As per the complaint, post Operation Sindoor against terrorist bases in Pakistan, members of the group shared congratulatory messages but the accused posted a derogatory video against the prime minister and the national flag burning, along with a status message insulting the country.
She also stated that her paternal and maternal families were from Pakistan.
The prosecution argued that her messages and actions were deliberate and inflammatory.
The accused in her petition claimed she was not in a sound mental state at the time and deleted the messages after realising they had offended others.
She also submitted that she had apologised and suffered professional loss, having been removed from her teaching job.
The court, however, noted that even though the accused apologised, serious damage had been already caused by her messages.
“What is expected of a prudent person is that, before putting up any kind of message on social group, a person like the petitioner who is educated and teacher by profession should also think about the pros and cons which might occur due to sending online messages through her social media account (WhatsApp),” the bench said. PTI SP KRK
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