Magh Amavasya
New Delhi: Persons hosting communities and groups on popular social networking sites cannot escape criminal liability if any obscene or hate message gets posted on their blog or community.
Conveying this message to the Internet-savvy generation, the Supreme Court on Monday denied protection to a Kerala-based student facing a criminal case in Maharashtra for hurting sentiments of the Shiv Sena.
While it is the first-of-its-kind case that has come to the apex court, the incident has sent an unambiguous message to the youth running hate campaigns against organisations, individuals and taking cover under the forum’s anonymity. The message is loud and clear; that there is no escape from accountability and the host of the Website or the moderator of the community could attract penal consequences.
The case relates to the hosting of an anti-Shiv Sena community on a popular social networking site by Ajith of Kerala after Maharashtra was rocked by violence against north Indians.
Ajith’s blog received posts from anonymous visitors, who poured out their anguish against the Shiv Sainiks for acting in a manner that could divide the country on regional and caste considerations.
Hurt by the online posts, the State secretary of the Shiv Sena’s youth wing registered a criminal complaint against Ajith, charging him for hurting religious sentiments of citizens (IPC Section 295A) and criminal intimidation (IPC Section 506) at the Thane police station. Subsequently, a case was registered in August 2008 on the above grounds and investigation started.
Challenging the pending investigation based on the case against him, Ajith demanded from the Supreme Court to protect his fundamental right to free speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). He stated that the world of Internet does not permit check on the posts made on the community site since it is accessible by all.
But the court saw no reason to sympathise with him and held him responsible for the material posted on his community link. "You are a computer student. Whatever is posted on the Internet is open to the world. If you do something and a criminal case is filed, you must go and appear," said a Bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam.
Though Ajith had obtained anticipatory bail from the Kerala High Court, the apex court trashed his contention that posts made on the social networking link were out of his control. Making the liability absolute, the court asked him to face the consequences of a criminal prosecution.
Ajith, who approached the Supreme Court by filing a writ petition, further alleged a threat to his life since he was required to depose in the local court in Maharashtra. The police are yet to file a chargesheet in the case due to which the trial has not begun.
Source: dailypioneer.com
