Case Title: Afsalbhai Kasambhai Lakhani vs State of Gujarat

A single bench of Justice Nirzar Desai of Gujarat High Court denied bail to a man named Afsalbhai Kasambhai Lakhani, who is accused of putting derogatory and abusive post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother Heeraben Modi on his Facebook page ‘Gujarat Trast Bhajpa Mast’.

Justice said that a person may like or dislike PM Narendra Modi but that does not mean that they can use abusive language for him.

“One can understand that a person may have like or dislike against any person but it does not mean that he may start using derogatory and abusive language for the Prime Minister of Country and his late mother. Therefore, only general observations are made by this Court rather than reproducing the contents of any of the post. On overall consideration of the material, this Court has found that the present applicant who is an Indian citizen has made all the attempts to destabilize the peace in the society”.

The court observed that the accused had posted certain posts which can disturb the communal harmony of the society “This Court has found that he has posted certain posts which may disturb the communal harmony and may create unrest in the society as well as some material which is of such kind that it may have a larger impact over the peace and brotherhood in the society”.

The accused had also posted pornographic and obscene materials on his Facebook page.

The bench held that “Therefore, even if the maximum punishment for the offence, i.e. for five years, is considered, I do not see any reason to show any leniency upon the present applicant and to enlarge him on bail”.

The accused was booked for hate speech, defamation, obscenity, hurting religious sentiments and other provisions of IT Act.

In its order, the bench pointed out that the posts were made just to malign the impression and image of not just the leader of the country but to fulfill his own personal hidden agenda. 

The bench in its order said that “If such person is granted bail, there are all the chances that he may commit such offence once again by using another name and by creating fake IDs as the technology has advanced by now and once if such person is permitted to roam freely in the society, they may do the damage by his post on social media and once the damage is done, there is no point in arresting that person and punish him because larger damage by the time, such person is identified would already be done in form of disturbance of peace, harmony and brotherhood in the society, as social media is a very powerful tool to influence people”.