Do ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chants in masjid hurt religious sentiment? SC to rule

NEW DELHI: Does shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ inside a mosque hurt religious sentiments of Muslims? Supreme Court on Friday will hear a petition challenging a Karnataka HC decision which quashed criminal proceedings against miscreants who raised the slogan inside a mosque on the ground that it did not hurt religious sentiments.
A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Sandeep Mehta will hear the petition by Haydhar Ali, filed through advocate Javedur Rehman, who has challenged the HC’s Sept 13 verdict quashing the entire criminal proceedings before a Puttur court in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka even before the police completed its investigation.
It was alleged that on Sept 24, 2023, some miscreants entered the Badriya Juma Masjid at Aithoor village and started shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans, followed by threats that Muslims would not be allowed to live in peace. The petitioner had lodged a complaint with police leading to the arrest of two persons, who were later granted bail.
HC had stayed the proceedings before the trial court on Nov 29 last year on the plea of the accused seeking quashing of the criminal proceedings and granted the relief on Sep 13 this year. The petitioner said HC erred in quashing the proceedings as the investigation had not been completed by police for the full range of evidence to come before the court. It said trespass was a defined criminal offence.
Raising of the ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans inside a mosque could be categorised as statements likely to cause communal trouble, which too is a defined offence as per the country’s laws, it added.
“The fact that such an incident took place inside a mosque, coupled with the threat to the lives of Muslims, HC should have allowed police to complete the investigation into the matter without first passing an interim order,” the petitioner said.