The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court recently in the case of Kishor Pandurang Landkar v. State of Maharashtra & Anr[1] dismissed a plea by Kishor Pandurang Landkar to quash a criminal case filed against him under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for an allegedly objectionable WhatsApp status[2]. The case was heard by a division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and Valmiki Sa Menezes.
Landkar uploaded a WhatsApp status last March, posing a question to be searched on Google, with an addition stating that the search would lead to “shocking results.” The complainant, upon doing the Google search, claimed to have found material that could outrage the feelings of a religious group, leading him to file an FIR against Landkar.
In response to the allegations, Landkar argued that the WhatsApp status was only meant to be seen by his contacts and not intended to offend any specific class of persons. However, the Court rejected this contention, emphasizing that WhatsApp statuses are a mode of communication with known individuals and are often checked by others regularly. The Court stated that people should behave responsibly while communicating through such platforms, and one cannot evade responsibility by claiming limited circulation[3].
The Court found that the police report presented evidence of deliberate and malicious intent by Landkar to insult the feelings of a particular group of citizens. Furthermore, the investigation was still in progress at the “embryo stage,” and Landkar had not denied posting the allegedly objectionable WhatsApp status.
Based on these factors, the Court rejected Landkar’s plea to quash the case, upholding that there was no justification for him to display such a status. The case would continue with the ongoing investigation to determine if Landkar indeed intended to outrage the feelings of a religious class through his WhatsApp status.
WRITTEN BY- SWATI SUMAN, COLLEGE NAME – MODY UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, RAJASTHAN, SEMESTER- 9TH SEMESTER AN INTERN UNDER LEGAL VIDHIYA
[1] https://images.assettype.com/barandbench/2023-07/7cd81e85-7a1f-4573-84d1-026beda9f6c1/Kishor_Pandurang_Landkar_v__State_of_Maharashtra___Anr_.pdf
[2] https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/bombay-high-court-sc-st-act-case-objectionable-whatsapp-status
