The Supreme Court of India on Monday dismissed a plea seeking to quash a criminal case against Mohd Faiyyaz Mansuri, a law graduate, who was booked in 2020 over a Facebook post about the Babri Masjid.
Mansuri’s post, written in Hindi, read, “Babri Masjid will one day be rebuilt, just like Turkey’s Sophia Mosque.” The post led to an FIR in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, where he was charged under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and 295A (hurting religious sentiments) of the IPC. Authorities later invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against him, though the Allahabad High Court quashed it in 2021, granting him relief from preventive detention.
Mansuri’s lawyer argued before the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi that the post was only an expression of “hope and opinion,” protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, the right to free speech. He also claimed his Facebook account had been hacked and that offensive comments under the post were made by someone else using a fake profile.
However, the Supreme Court refused to interfere at this stage, saying the trial court should decide the matter based on facts. Justice Kant advised Mansuri’s counsel, “Don’t invite any comment from us,” making it clear that the bench did not wish to express any view that might influence the ongoing proceedings.
The court allowed Mansuri to withdraw his plea and said that his defence arguments would be heard by the trial court.
