Even ‘unsaid’ words can amount to promoting enmity, says Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has observed that even a message on the platform WhatsApp that does not explicitly refer to religion may promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between communities through “unsaid” words, Live Law reported on Thursday.

A bench of Justices JJ Munir and Pramod Kumar Srivastava held that sending such “subtle” messages to several persons has the “potential” to attract the offence of promoting enmity under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The bench made the observations in a September 26 order, refusing to quash a first information report filed against the petitioner, Afaq Ahmad, for sending an allegedly inflammatory message to several persons on WhatsApp.

Ahmad allegedly claimed in the message that his brother had been arrested in a false case due to his religious identity, Live Law reported.

Representing Ahmad, advocate Syed Shahnawaz Shah had contended in the court that the petitioner had only shown resentment about his brother’s arrest in the message.

It was not intended to disturb public peace, tranquillity or communal harmony in any manner, Shah added.

The message also showed Ahmad’s faith in the judicial process, the advocate said, adding that the petitioner only lamented that false allegations had tarnished his family’s image and affected their business, according to Live Law.

However, the bench said that although Ahmad did not speak about religion in his message per...

Read more