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The Kerala high court has observed that no religious belief stands above the Constitution.
The court said this while rejecting a petition seeking to quash serious charges against a man accused of circulating a video that criticised a young Muslim woman for shaking hands with then Kerala Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac in 2016.
In its order dated October 1, the court observed that whether charges under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 119(a) of the Kerala Police Act against the man who allegedly circulated a video on social media -- claiming that a young Muslim woman committed adultery by violating Sharia law --are valid is a matter to be decided by the jurisdictional court.
The court said the question before it was whether a Muslim girl giving a handshake to an adult male -- if both the girl giving the handshake and the adult accepting it have no problem -- can lead a third person to claim that the Muslim girl violated religious beliefs.
"In this case, the allegation against the petitioner (man) is that, a WhatsApp video is circulating which contains the speech of the petitioner, remarking that the 2nd respondent (the young woman) has violated Shariat Law by giving a handshake to the Finance Minister of the State, and as such, she, being a grown up girl, has committed adultery by touching another man. It is alleged that the video is circulated and the said sequence of her handshake was also displayed in the video.
"A young brave Muslim girl comes forward and says that, it violates her personal freedom of religious belief. In such situations, our Constitution will protect her interest. Moreover, it is the duty of the society to support her. No religious belief is above the Constitution and the Constitution is supreme," Justice P V Kunhikrishnan said in the order.
Dismissing the plea, the Court said it was of the considered opinion that it need not exercise the extraordinary jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C/Section 528 BNSS to quash this proceedings in the peculiar facts and circumstances.
Section 528 of BNSS and Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) empower the high court to exercise inherent powers to make orders necessary for giving effect to the Code, prevent abuse of court processes, and ensure justice is served.
"If the petitioner is innocent, he can face the trial and get an honourable acquittal from the jurisdictional court," the order said and opined that there is no abuse of the process of the court as alleged by the petitioner or there is nothing to secure the ends of justice in this case to invoke its extraordinary powers.
The court also said it was of the view that the petitioner has to surrender before the jurisdictional court and face the trial in accordance with the law.
"Hence, there is no merit in this case. I make it clear that, the trial court will decide the case untrammeled by any observation in this order," the order said, and directed the trial court to dispose of the case as expeditiously as possible in accordance with law.
The circumstances that led to the case happened when the young woman, while a second-year law student at Karanthur Markaz Law College, Kozhikode, participated in an interactive session with Thomas Isaac, the then Finance Minister of Kerala, where students could ask questions and receive gifts.
During the event, she was called on stage to receive a gift. After shaking hands with the minister, she received the gift, a moment captured by media photographers and broadcasted on various channels.
However, she later learned from friends about a Facebook post criticising her handshake as a violation of Sharia law, along with a circulating WhatsApp video featuring remarks that accused her of committing adultery by touching another man.
She claims that this led to disgrace for her and her family, resulting in allegations against the accused, while the petitioner (the accused person) argued that even if the allegations are accepted, they do not constitute offences under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code or Section 119(a) of the Kerala Police Act. PTI COR TGB TGB