Free speech can't be stifled by cases: Supreme Court

An FIR lodged was lodged against Shillong Times' Editor Patricia Mukhim for her Facebook post, related to an attack on non-tribal boys

The Supreme Court on Thursday said free speech of the citizens of this country cannot be stifled by implicating them in criminal cases unless it has the tendency to affect public order.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat said disapprobation of governmental inaction or cry for justice cannot be termed as something promoting enmity among communities.

The court allowed a plea by Shillong Times' Editor Patricia Mukhim for quashing an FIR lodged on July 6, 2020 at Shillong for her two-day-old Facebook post, related to an attack on non-tribal boys by a group of 25 unidentified boys.

The court said her Facebook post read in its entirety, pleaded for equality of non-tribals of Meghalaya, which reflected no intention on her part to promote class or community hatred or any attempt to incite people belonging to a community to indulge in any violence.

"Disapprobation of governmental inaction cannot be branded as an attempt to promote hatred between different communities," the bench said.

The court said her fervent plea for protection of non-tribals living in Meghalaya and for their equality cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be categorised as hate speech. "It was a call for justice - for action according to law, which every citizen has a right to expect and articulate," the bench said.

The High Court declined to quash the case saying the reference to the attack on the non-tribals by the tribals has propensity to cause a rift between two communities.

On her appeal, the top court said close scrutiny of the Facebook post would indicate her agony, and was directed against the apathy shown by the Meghalaya Chief Minister, the Director-General of Police and others.

"If the victims voice their discontent, and speak out, especially if the state authorities turn a blind eye, or drag their feet, such voicing of discontent is really a cry for anguish, for justice denied – or delayed," the bench said.