Babu Rao Patel Vs. State of Delhi
[1980] INSC 32 (21 February 1980)
REDDY, O. CHINNAPPA (J) REDDY, O. CHINNAPPA
(J) SARKARIA, RANJIT SINGH
CITATION: 1980 AIR 763 1980 SCR (2)1082 1980
SCC (2) 402
ACT:
Penal Code, Section 153A(1), Scope of-Whether
political thesis or historical truth so presented be said to promote feelings
of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious groups or communities
so as to attract the provisions of Section 153A of the Code.
HEADNOTE:
Dismissing the appeals, by special leave the
Court,
HELD: Section 153A(1) is not confined to the
promotion of feelings of enmity etc. on grounds of religion only, but takes in
promotion of such feelings on other grounds as well such as race, place of
birth, residence, language, caste or community. [1083G] In the instance case:
Both the articles do promote feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between
the Hindu and Muslim communities. [1086C] (i)|The first article "A tale of
two Communalisms" is not even thinly veiled as a political thesis; it is
an undisguised attempt to promote feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will
between the Hindu and the Muslim communities.
It is designed to fan the sparks of ill-will
and hatred on ground of community. The reference to the alleged Muslim tradition
of rape, loot, violence and murder and the alleged terror struck into the
hearts of Hindu minority in a neighbouring country by periodical killings, in
the context of his thesis that communalism is the instrument of a militant
minority can lead to no other inference. [1084E-F] (ii)|The second article
'Lingering disgrace of history' goes further and is calculated to rouse
feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between Muslims and Hindus. It was
wrong to present the Moghuls as the ancestors of today's Muslims and to willify
the Muslims as the proud discendants of the "foul" Moghuls. [1084G,
1086A, B, C] Feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious
groups or communities cannot be promoted in the guise of political thesis of
historical truth.
[1086C]
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal
Appeal Nos. 237-238 of 1974.
Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and
Order dated 14-8-1973 of the Delhi High Court in Crl. Revision Nos. 146 and 153
of 1971.
A. K. Sen, Gobind Das, A. N. Karkhanis,
Sridharan and Mrs. S. Bhandare for the Appellant.
H. S. Marwah and M. N. Shroff for the
Respondent.
1083 The Judgment of the Court was delivered
by CHINNAPPA REDDY, J. Can political thesis or historical truth be so presented
as to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different
religious groups or communities, is the question which we are called upon to
answer in these two criminal appeals. The appellant in the two criminal appeals
is the editor, publisher and printer of a monthly magazine going by the name
'Mother India'. He wrote two articles under the captions "A tale of two
communalisms" and "Lingering disgrace of history". On complaints
filed by the Superintendent of Police, Delhi, under section 153-A of the Indian
Penal Code, he was convicted in respect of each of these articles in separate
cases and sentenced in each case to suffer simple imprisonment for a period of
four months and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/- by the Additional Chief Judicial
Magistrate, Delhi. On appeal the learned Sessions Judge, Delhi, confirmed the
conviction in both the cases but reduced the sentence of fine to Rs. 500/- in
each case. This was confirmed by the High Court. The appellant has preferred
these appeals by Special Leave of this Court.
Shri A. K. Sen, learned counsel for the
appellant submitted that if the articles were read as a whole it would be
patent that the article "A tale of two communalisms" was no more than
a political thesis and the second article "Lingering disgrace of
history" was no more than a protest based on historical truths against the
naming of roads in Delhi after Moghul emperors. He contended that neither
article contained any attack on any religion and, therefore, there was no
question of promoting and attempting to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or
ill-will between different religious groups on grounds or religion. The
convictions under section 153-A were, therefore, wrong, he submitted.
Section 153-A(1) (a) provides, "whoever
by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations
or otherwise, promotes, or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race,
place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground
whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will between
different religious, racial language or regional groups or castes or
communities shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three
years, or with fine, or with both". It is seen that s. 153A(1). (a) is not
confined to the promotion of feelings of enmity etc. on grounds of religion
only as argued by Shri Sen but takes in promotion of such feelings on other
grounds as well such as race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or
community. In the present case we have to consider the question whether the two
articles promote on grounds of religion or community, feelings of enmity,
hatred or ill- will between different religious groups or communities.
1084 The first of the articles "A tale
of two communalisms" does begin as a sort of political thesis. According
to the author "communalism is an instrument of political minorities".
His thesis is that militant minorities thrive on communalism. If he wanted to
develop his thesis on those lines no-one could object. But, he referred to
Muslims generally as "a basically violent race" and went on to say
"communalism is, therefore, an instrument of a minority with a racial
tradition of rape, loot, violence and murder as is found in India with a Muslim
population of 12.7%. In Pakistan the Hindu minority is 6.6% but because its
racial tradition is different it does not indulge in communal riots.... Three
essentials are necessary for violent communalism. The community must be a
minority, the minority must be sizable and the minority must have a tradition
of murder and violence... We find these three essentials in the Muslim
community of India". He then stated in the article that in Pakistan and
particularly in East Bengal peace loving and terror struck Hindu minority was
being eliminated by periodical killing and conversions on a mass scale.
"Young Hindu males were compelled to
undergo vasectomy operations, young and pretty Hindu girls became the victims
of Islamic beds of lust". It is then said "It is not in the nature
and religion of the Hindu of India to be intolerant and blood-thirsty like the
followers of Islam". According to him the only answer to the problem of
communalism was to declare India a Hindu State. In our opinion there cannot be
the slightest doubt that the article is not even thinly veiled as a political
thesis; it is an undisguised attempt to promote feelings of enmity, hatred and
ill-will between the Hindu and the Muslim communities. It is designed to fan
the sparks of ill-will and hatred on ground of community.
The reference to the alleged Muslim tradition
of rape, loot, violence and murder and the alleged terror struck into the
hearts of Hindu minority in a neighbouring country by periodical killings, in
the context of his thesis that communalism is the instrument of a militant minority
can lead to no other inference.
The second article 'Lingering disgrace of
history' is said to be a protest against the naming of Delhi roads after the
Moghul emperors who according to the author were lustful perverts, rapists and
murderers. According to the learned counsel the attack was directed against the
Moghul rulers and not against the Muslims of India. It was also said that all
the statements in the article about the lusts and perversions of the Moghul
rulers were plain historical truths. On a full reading of the article it
reveals much more than a protest against naming Delhi roads after Moghul
rapists and perverts. At one place it is said "From Mohammed Ibn Qasim,
who landed in India in June 1085 712 A.D. with 6000 Muslim cut-throats, to
Mohomed Ali Jinnah, who cut this ancient cradle of a peace-loving human race
into three bleeding bits in August, 1947, we have had 1235 years of
bloodstained history in which our life has been constantly punctuated by
endless raids, rapes, loot, arson and slaughter. In all these years Hindus have
given millions of men, women and children as hostages to Islam to buy some
peace and preserve their own religion. They are still doing so. God alone knows
how long this process of paying and appeasing Muslims will go on but it cannot
go on for long if the family planning designs of the present secular government
succeed. Because then pretty soon there would be no Hindu left to pay.
"It is difficult to predict the future
of the ancient Hindu race. It has no future at all in Pakistan where a subtle
and systematic genocide of the 10 million Hindus there has now been undertaken
at State level by enforcing vasectomy operations on Hindu males and tubectomies
on Hindu females, and by raping women and converting young children to Islam.
"But as long as the Hindu race lasts and
survives in India its only cradle and grave in the whole world, it will be
worthwhile setting before its children the ideals of its numerous Hindu heroes
and nation builders rather than reminding them constantly of these Moghul
brutes and tyrants who burnt Hindu homes, ravished Hindu mothers and sisters,
slaughtered Hindu men and harassed and kidnapped and converted Hindu
children".
After referring to various perversities and
tyrannies of the Moghul rulers ending with Aurangzeb, he said: "To have a
street named after this Mughal bastard in New Delhi, the capital of India, is
not only a disgrace to the Hindus but a crying insult to the brave community of
Sikhs. Had the Muslims been insulted thus, they would not only have burnt every
house on the road named after the tyrant but also set fire to the whole damned
city. The Muslims know how to guard their traditions". He expressed the
opinion that some of the ancient relics that reminded Hindus of their shame and
disgrace made Muslims proud of the foul deeds of their ancestors. He made an
appeal that a beginning should be made to wipe out 'our thousand year old
shame' by changing the "Muslim names of roads" which 'remind us of
the inhuman atrocities committed on our men, women and children'. If the
Moghuls raped, looted, killed and sinned, the author's view appears to be that
they did so as "Muslim sadists". The author goes so far as to say
that today's Muslims are proud of the foul deeds of "their
ancestors", the Moghuls being considered by the author as the progenitors
1086 of the present day Indian Muslims. There is no question that the article
is calculated to rouse feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between Muslims
and Hindus.
Whether communalism is the weapon of an
aggressive and militant minority as suggested by the accused or the
"shield of a nervous and fearful minority", the problem of
communalism is not solved by castigating the members of the minority community
as intolerant and blood thirsty and a community with a tradition of rape, loot,
violence and murder. Whether the Moghuls were rapists and murderers or not and
whether the Delhi roads should be named after them or not it was wrong to
present the Moghuls as the ancestors of today's Muslims and to villify the
Muslims as the proud descendants of the "foul" Moghuls. We are
convinced that both the articles do promote feelings of enmity, hatred and
ill-will between the Hindu and Muslim communities on grounds of community and
this cannot be done in the guise of political thesis or historical truth. The
appeals are dismissed.
V.D.K. Appeals dismissed.
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