Madras High Court Quashes FIR Against Law Student Over Facebook Post on Periyar Statue

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in Barani Dharan vs State of Tamil Nadu, has quashed criminal proceedings against a law student over a Facebook post concerning a statue of EVR Periyar near the Srirangam Temple.

The case arose from an FIR registered at Srirangam Police Station against M. Barani Dharan, who was then a law student. He had posted on Facebook suggesting that the Periyar statue near the temple should be removed or broken, which was alleged to have hurt public sentiments.

The prosecution booked him under provisions relating to promoting enmity, intentional insult, and public mischief. It was argued that the post had the potential to disturb communal harmony and offend certain sections of society.

Justice R. Vijayakumar, however, examined the content of the post and the surrounding circumstances. The Court found that the post merely reflected an opinion and did not cross the legal threshold required to constitute an offence under the relevant penal provisions.

“As per Facebook post of the petitioner, the petitioner has only expressed his views that such the said statue would affect the religious sentiments of Hindus. No untoward incidents has happened, pursuant to the said Face book post. The petitioner was studying law in Bangalore at the time of post. Now he has completed his studies and he is about to get enrolled. It is only an expression of opinion and cannot be considered to have promoted enmity between two groups,” the Court held.

The Court also took note of an affidavit filed by the petitioner. In the affidavit, Dharan stated that the post was unintentional and assured the Court that he would not repeat such conduct in the future.

Further, it was submitted that the continuation of criminal proceedings could adversely affect his professional career, as he had completed his legal education and was about to enrol as an advocate.

Importantly, the Court observed that no law and order disturbance had taken place as a result of the post. There was no evidence to show that the statement had incited violence or caused public unrest.

Based on these findings, the Court concluded that the essential ingredients of offences relating to promoting enmity were not satisfied. It held that continuing the prosecution would serve no meaningful purpose.

Accordingly, the High Court quashed the FIR and all related proceedings against the petitioner.

The petitioner was represented by advocate Aayiram K. Selvakumar, while the State was represented by Government Advocate (Criminal Side) B. Thanga Aravindh.