Prayagraj: According to Live Law reports the Allahabad High Court has observed that even a message on WhatsApp that does not explicitly mention religion may still promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between communities through “unsaid” words.
A division bench comprising Justices JJ Munir and Pramod Kumar Srivastava made the observation in a September 26 order while refusing to quash an FIR lodged against a man, Afaq Ahmad, for allegedly sending an inflammatory message on WhatsApp.
The bench noted that sending such “subtle” messages to several recipients could attract the offence of promoting enmity under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
According to the report, Ahmad’s message claimed that his brother had been falsely arrested due to his religious identity. His counsel, advocate Syed Shahnawaz Shah, argued that the message merely expressed resentment over the arrest and did not intend to disturb public peace or communal harmony. The message, he said, also reflected Ahmad’s faith in the judicial process and only lamented the damage caused to his family’s reputation and business.
However, the bench said that while the message did not explicitly refer to religion, it conveyed an “underlying and subtle message” that could outrage religious feelings. Those unsaid words “would prima facie outrage religious feelings of a class of citizens hailing from a particular community, who would think that they are being targeted because of belonging to a particular religious community,” the court observed.
It added that even if no religious feelings were directly hurt, the message was likely to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between religious communities.
The court further held that sending such messages to several persons could amount to promoting enmity under the BNS, even if the act did not fall under Section 353(3), which prescribes harsher punishment if the offence occurs in a place of worship or during a religious ceremony, Live Law reported.
The bench concluded that the matter required investigation and dismissed Ahmad’s petition seeking to quash the FIR.
According to The Indian Express, the case originated on July 19, when Ahmad’s brother, Arif Ahmad, was arrested after an FIR was filed by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker Sandeep Kaushik. The complaint accused Arif of obscenity in public, provoking breach of peace, and criminal intimidation. The RSS is the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The FIR also alleged that Arif had “connections with anti-national and anti-social elements” and was involved in “love jihad”, a term used in Hindutva circles to claim that Muslim men lure Hindu women into relationships to convert them to Islam. The Union Home Ministry has clarified in Parliament that Indian law does not recognise such a term.
The case was later expanded to include charges of rape, administering poison, cheating, forgery, and unlawful religious conversion under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, The Indian Express reported.
Afaq Ahmad told the newspaper that his brother had been in a relationship with a Hindu woman in 2020, but later married within his community in 2023 and had a daughter.
He added that on July 19, he received a call to attend a meeting where people from various communities were present and was informed that his brother was accused of attempting to convert a Hindu woman and take her to Dubai.
Subsequently, another FIR was lodged against Afaq on July 30 based on a WhatsApp message he allegedly sent to two people. The case was filed after one of the recipients took screenshots of the message. According to The Indian Express, Afaq wrote that his brother had been “framed in a false case by putting political pressure on the police” and that a boycott had been called against his family’s livelihood. He also expressed fear of being lynched but reiterated faith in the legal system.
Another FIR was filed against Afaq on Sunday under BNS provisions related to criminal intimidation and breach of peace. In addition, a case was filed on October 4 against Arif’s uncle, Sadik, who had allegedly told a local news channel that his nephew had been framed.
That FIR, also filed on Kaushik’s complaint, accused Sadik of promoting enmity under the BNS, The Indian Express reported. Kaushik told the newspaper on October 15 that he had filed the initial complaint against Arif because the woman’s family was “scared” and that he acted “as a responsible member of society.”