Prashant Jagdish Kanaujiya v. State of U.P.
In the High Court of Allahabad
Misc. 7974/2020
Before Justice Pankaj Kumar Jaiswal and Justice Karunesh Singh Pawar
Decided on May 08, 2020

Relevancy of the case: Quashing of a first information report for posting comments which incite religious and caste animosity

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Constitution of India (Article 226)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 41A)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 500, 501, 505(1)(b))

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The first information report alleged that the petitioner posted some objectionable comment on his Twitter account concerning the Hon’ble Prime Minister as well as the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
• He was also accused of posting objectionable comments with regards to religion and caste.

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates

• The petitioner’s counsel submitted that the petitioner did not post any objectionable comment on Twitter. Further, the learned counsel also stated that the respondent, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, filed the first information report with mala fide intention.

Opinion of the Bench

• The Court relied on the written instructions received by the learned AGA and after the perusal of the first information report, that the petitioner was a habitual offender and used social media as a tool to spread religious and caste animosity which breached Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Further, the Court directed the investigating officers to comply with the judgement of the Apex Court in Arunesh Kumar v. State of Bihar.

Final Decision

• Petition disposed of.

This case summary has been prepared by Tuba Aftab, an undergraduate student at IIMT & School of Law, GGSIPU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in May/June 2021.