1973 Supreme(Del) 192
High Court Of Delhi
BAKU RAO PATEL - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF DELHI - Respondent
CRIMINAL APPEAL 146 of 1971
Decided On : 08/14/1973
B.B.LAL, R.N.Dixit
Section 153A IPC does not require that the article is likely to disturb public peace. The only ingredients of an offence under section 153(1)(a) are that the speech or writing complained of must have the effect of promoting or attempting to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different citizens on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc.
Headnote:
CRIMINAL LAW - S. 153A IPC - Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion - Whether the article is likely to disturb public peace is not a requirement - Constitutionality of S. 153A IPC - Whether violative of freedom of speech and expression under Art. 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
Fact of the Case:
The editor of a monthly magazine published articles that allegedly promoted feelings of enmity or hatred between Hindus and Muslims on grounds of religion. The editor was convicted under section 153-A Indian Penal Code and sentenced to imprisonment and fine.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the articles published by the editor were offensive and abusive in nature and contained passages and material that were likely to create resentment and ill will between the two communities. The court held that the intention of the writer was not relevant and that the only thing to be determined was whether the writings had the effect of promoting enmity or ill-will between the communities.
Issues: 1. Whether the articles published by the editor were likely to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between Hindus and Muslims on grounds of religion. 2. Whether the requirement of disturbing public peace is an essential ingredient of an offence under section 153(1)(a) Indian Penal Code. 3. Whether section 153A IPC is violative of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the articles published by the editor were likely to promote feelings of enmity or hatred between Hindus and Muslims on grounds of religion. The court found that the articles contained offensive and abusive language and passages that were bound to create resentment and ill will between the two communities. 2. The court held that the requirement of disturbing public peace is not an essential ingredient of an offence under section 153(1)(a) Indian Penal Code. The court found that the only ingredients of an offence under section 153(1)(a) are that the speech or writing complained of must have the effect of promoting or attempting to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different citizens on grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc. 3. The court held that section 153A IPC is not violative of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The court found that the object of section 153A is to prevent the subjects or citizens from doing anything which may have the effect of promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between the different classes or citizens. The court held that a legislation aiming to prevent such acts would be in the interests of the public order and the restrictions imposed therein would be reasonable restrictions.
Final Decision: The court upheld the conviction of the editor under section 153-A Indian Penal Code.
( 1 ) BABU Rao Patel, Editor and Publisher of a monthly magazine known as "mother India," in his issue for April, 1968, issued an article under the caption "lingering Disgrace of History". The article opens with a dialogue between a visiting American and an Indian. The visiting American expressed his surprise that in Delhi about a dozen roads had been named after Mughal emperors namely, Akbar, Humayun, Tughlak, Aurangzeb and Shahjehan who had slaughtered Hindu men and raped their women. The editor has in the article stated that right from the time of Mohammed Ion Qasim to Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Hindus had given millions of men, women and children as hostages to Islam to buy some peace and preserve their own religion and they were still doing so and that God alone knows how long this process of paying and appeasing Muslims will go on but it cannot go on for long if the family planning designs of the present secular government succeed. Because then pretty soon there would be no Hindus left to pay. The editor further predicted a blak future of the ancient Hindu race in Pakistan. According to the editor, in Pakistan a subtle and systematic genocide of the 10- million Hindus living there had been undertaken at State level by enforcing vasectomy operations on Hindu males and tubectomies on Hindu females, and by raping women and converting young children to Islam. The editor has further described the various atrocities that had been committed by Babar, Aurangzeb and other Mughal emperors and expressed his dissatisfaction over the naming of important roads in New Delhi after their names. The editor further described the atrocities committed by Aurangzeb on the two sons of Guru Gobind Singh who had refused to embrace Islam, and observcd : "to have a street named after this Mughal bastard in New Delhi, the capital of India, is not only a disgrace to the Hindus but a crying insult to the brave community of Sikhs. Had the Muslims been insulted thus, they would not only have burnt every house on the road named after the tyrant but also set fire to the whole damn city. The Muslims know how to guard their traditions. " The editor further goes on to write that in Pakistan old cities are being named anew with Muslim names, whereas in India important cities are still named after the Muslim emperors.
( 2 ) THE editor further, while comparing the British rule of 200 years to that of the Muslim rule of a thousand years, wrote that the British had never raped Indian women, kidnapped Indian children, burnt Indian homes or slaughtered the Indian people. But still the statues of their kings, governors and viceroys, some of which were imposing works of sculpture worth maintaining for their natural beauty as works of art, had been mudiated and destroyed.
( 3 ) THE editor further wrote : "what a great contrast between the British builders of the nation and the brutal Mughal ravishers: The bleeding wounds inflicted over a thousand years by barbarian Mughals were gently healed by the British rulers in 200 years and the country once ravaged by the raids and loot of Mughal fanatics was once again made to look green and smiling by the blessings of the British. This is historical truth-not political fiction. "
"but the British who had done all this and more became hateful aliens overnight while the Mughal barbarians who had multiplied on loot, rape, arson, murder and forced conversions became partners of a secular nation. The only logic in this forced partnership is of the fanatical aggression of the Muslims as against the cowardly submission of the Hindus. The partnership has neither historical title nor moral sanction. Raiders, at the most, can be tenants, never owners. "
"if the broom that was used to sweep out British memory from the country is to be justified on political grounds, then on many more grounds-cultural, religious, moral, social, historical and political-bull-dozers will have to be used to remove the taunting relics of the thousand y