Calling someone Pakistani not an offence, holds SC

Supreme Court of India. File pic

The Supreme Court on Tuesday that using terms such as "miyan-tiyan" and "Pakistani" was not an offence of hurting religious sentiments, though made in poor taste.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma therefore discharged a man in a criminal case filed by a Urdu translator and acting clerk RTI in the sub-divisional office, Chas, in Jharkhand.

The February 11 court order said, "The appellant is accused of hurting the religious feelings of the informant by calling him ‘miyan-tiyan' and ‘Pakistani'.

Undoubtedly, the statements made are in poor taste. However, it does not amount to hurting the religious sentiments of the informant.

Hence, we are of the opinion that the appellant shall also be discharged under Section 298 IPC."

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever