Prayagraj, March 6: The Allahabad High Court has refused to give relief to RJD spokesperson Priyanka Bharti in the case of tearing pages of Manusmriti in a live TV show. Also, the petition filed seeking cancellation of the FIR registered against her has been rejected. This order has been given by the division bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Anish Gupta.
An FIR has been registered against the petitioner under Section 299 (deliberate and malicious acts that insult religious feelings) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for tearing pages of Manusmriti in a TV show. The petitioner said that his act was not with the intention of hurting the sentiments of any particular class. Also, this act did not create any law and order problem. This act has been done carelessly without intention, which does not come under the purview of Section 299 of the BNS.
The court said that the things said by influential people, politicians or media people have more credibility and impact than those said by common people. Therefore, their speeches or actions should not be provocative and hateful. Influential people are expected to be more cautious about their words and actions.
The court said that tearing the pages of the holy religious text Manusmriti is prima facie a corrupt and deliberate illegal act.
Rejecting the petition, the court said that it cannot be ignored that the petitioner is highly educated and was participating in a TV show in the capacity of a spokesperson of a political party. In such a situation, she cannot say that she has done this work carelessly.
