Chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' in mosques is not a crime: Indian High Court

The court also quashed the criminal case filed by the police against two persons for allegedly shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans inside the mosque. Indian media NDTV reported this information in a report on Wednesday (October 16). The High Court of the southern Indian state of Karnataka has commented that chanting 'Jai Sri Ram' inside the mosque does not hurt religious sentiments.

According to the report, the Karnataka High Court has quashed the criminal case filed by the police against two persons for allegedly shouting 'Jai Sri Ram' slogans inside the mosque. In the case on Tuesday, a bench headed by Justice M Nagprasanna noted that it did not understand how raising slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' hurt the religious sentiments of any community.

The accused were charged under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly chanting 'Jai Shri Ram' in a mosque. They were also booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 447 (criminal trespass), 505 (public defamatory statements), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 (common intention) and 295A (hurt religious sentiments).

Referring to the Supreme Court's order, this bench of the Karnataka High Court said that any act would not constitute an offense under Section 295A of the IPC.

According to the police, on the night of September 24, 2023, the accused entered a mosque and shouted Jai Shri Ram slogans. Allegations of threats were also raised against them. Soon after, they were taken into custody by the police and a case was registered against them under several sections, including hurting religious sentiments.

The accused later filed an appeal in the Karnataka High Court challenging the charges leveled against them. The court rejected these allegations in his hearing.

The Karnataka court while giving its verdict mentioned that the complainant in the case himself said that Hindus and Muslims are living in harmony in the respective areas. Where is the problem in Jai Sriram? To advocate the punishment of the accused is abuse of law.