The Supreme Court on Monday refused to quash criminal proceedings against a man who was booked in August 2020 for a social media post, which said that “Babri Masjid will one day be rebuilt”, Live Law reported.

The Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindutva extremists on December 6, 1992, because they believed that it stood on the spot where the Hindu deity Ram was born. The incident had triggered communal riots across the country.

In November 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992 was illegal, but handed over the land to a trust for a Ram temple to be constructed. At the same time, it directed that a five-acre plot in Ayodhya be allotted to Muslims for a mosque to be constructed.

More than four years later, the Ram temple was inaugurated in Ayodhya in a ceremony led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 22, 2024. The construction of the mosque is yet to start.

On Monday, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi dismissed the plea after hearing advocate Talha Abdul Rahman, who appeared for the petitioner, Mansuri, who is a law graduate.

Rahman argued that there was nothing vulgar or inflammatory in Mansuri’s post, and that the objectionable comment that followed was made by another person who was never investigated.

Kant noted that the bench had gone through the petitioner’s post. “Do not invite any comment from us,” Live Law quoted Kant as saying.

The matter was disposed of as withdrawn, with the court observing that the trial court will consider Mansuri’s contentions on their own merit.

The case

A first information report was registered against Mansuri on August 6, 2020, in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. The police alleged that his Facebook post was derogatory and that a separate account later made indecent remarks about Hindu deities in the comments.

Mansuri was booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to promoting enmity between groups, statements creating or promoting enmity or hatred, among others and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act

The district magistrate later detained him under the National Security Act, but the Allahabad High Court quashed the detention in September 2021.

After the police filed a chargesheet, the trial court took cognisance of the case earlier this year. Mansuri then approached the High Court seeking to have the case quashed, arguing that his Facebook account had been hacked and that there was no intention to promote enmity.

He also claimed that the vulgar remarks were posted by another account.

In September, the High Court refused to quash the case but directed the trial to be completed quickly.