Justice Maheshan (M) Nagaprasanna, a Karnataka High Court judge’s latest judgement has gone viral
On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court dismissed the criminal complaint that the police had brought against two individuals for allegedly shouting “Jai Shri Ram” inside a mosque.
While passing the order, Karnataka High Court single division bench led by Justice M. Nagaprasanna noted that it was incomprehensible how the raising of “Jai Shri Ram” shouts would offend any community’s religious sentiments. The court was considering an appeal plea filed by the defendants.
Who is Justice Maheshan (M) Nagaprasanna as Karnataka High Court judge says shouting Jai Shri Ram slogans inside mosque doesn’t hurt religious sentiments
Justice Mahesh Nagaprasanna was born on 23.03.1971 and was ppointed as Additional Judge of the High Court of Karnataka and took oath on 26.11.2019 and was made a Permanent Judge on 08.09.2021.
A single judge bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court heard 522 cases listed before it starting at 10.30 am and sitting till 5 pm, with lunch break for an hour in between. At the end of the day Justice Nagaprasanna passed orders in all 522 cases, disposing of 50 of them and issuing 200 interim orders in 2023.
In his latest verdict, defendants were booked for allegedly shouting “Jai Shri Ram” in a mosque in violation of IPC Section 295A. In addition, they were charged under Sections 34 (common intention), 506 (criminal intimidation), 447 (criminal trespass), and 295A (outraging religious sensibilities) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Over the course of Tuesday’s session, Justice M. Nagaprasanna of Karnataka High Court, accomplished the extraordinary achievement of hearing 600 cases in single day.
Not only that, on March 22, he had heard 801 petitions in just one day, with 36 of them receiving reserved… pic.twitter.com/xI06nKl64a— Chiru Bhat | ಚಿರು ಭಟ್ (@mechirubhat) June 19, 2024
The Karnataka High Court took note of the complaint’s own statement that Muslims and Hindus coexisted peacefully in the relevant area. The judge emphasized that allowing additional procedures against the petitioners would amount to an abuse of the legal system.
The bench made reference to the Supreme Court’s ruling when it stated that no act would ever be considered criminal under Section 295A of the IPC. According to the authorities, on September 24, 2023, at around 10.50 p.m., the accused people broke inside the mosque and yelled “Jai Shri Ram.” They were accused of making threats as well.
The accused were listed as unknown people when the complaint was filed, and they were eventually placed under arrest. However, the accused filed an appeal with the Karnataka High Court, contesting the accusations made against them, and the case against them was quashed as a result. The bench also took note of the complainant’s remarks that there was harmony between the local Muslims and Hindus and that yelling “Jai Shri Ram” might incite tensions between the communities.
“The acts that have no effect on bringing out peace or destruction of public order will not lead to an offence under Section 295A of the IPC,” Justice M Nagaprasanna said based on this ruling.
Shouting #JaiShriRam in a mosque does not hurt religious feelings: #Karnataka High Court
Dear Justice M Nagaprasanna, may we please know if your ruling is just a majority privilege ? And also if minorities including #Muslims, #Dalits and #tribals are allowed to reciprocate pic.twitter.com/AZ5bxfYoxy
— Mohammed Akhef TOI (@MohammedAkhef) October 15, 2024
The judge decided that it would be illegal for someone to make a statement that resulted in “inducing or conducing public mischief” under section 505 of the law.