Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court yesterday refused to quash a criminal case lodged against a man booked over his social media post on Babri Masjid, which said that "Babri Masjid will one day be rebuilt, just like Turkey's Sophia Mosque".

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi dismissed the case as withdrawn, after hearing Advocate Talha Abdul Rahman (for petitioner). The counsel argued that there was no vulgarity in the petitioner's post. The counsel submitted that it was another person who published a vulgar and inflammatory comment, but they were not investigated.

Unconvinced, Justice Kant said that the bench had gone through the petitioner's post. "Don't invite any comment from us", cautioned the judge. The matter was disposed of with an observation that all contentions raised by the petitioner shall be considered by the trial court on their own merit.

To recap, an FIR was lodged on August 6, 2020, against petitioner-Mansuri (now a law graduate), alleging that he posted a derogatory message on his Facebook account, on which one Samreen Bano made an indecent comment on God and the Goddess of the Hindu community.

The FIR was registered under Sections 153A, 292, 505 (2), 506, 509 IPC and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. Later, the DM, Lakhimpur Kheri, passed a detention order against the petitioner under the National Security Act, 1980. However, the Allahabad High Court quashed the same in September 2021.

This year, the Trial Court took cognizance of the chargesheet filed against Mansuri. Pursuant to that, he approached the High Court for quashing of the case, arguing that his account was hacked, and even otherwise, there was no criminality in his post or intent to promote enmity/disharmony. It was also claimed that the objectionable remarks were made in a comment on his post by one Ritesh Yadav, who assumed the name Samreen Bano.

In September, the High Court refused to allow his prayer, but ordered expedition of trial. Aggrieved, Mansuri approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: MOHD. FAIYYAZ MANSURI Versus THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND ANR., SLP(Crl) No. 16370/2025