A special court in Bengaluru has jailed one Faiz Rasheed for five years and fined him Rs 10,000 over derogatory Facebook posts about the Pulwama terrorist attack. According to the Central Crime Branch, Faiz Rasheed, who was a third-semester engineering student and resident of Kacharaknahalli in Bengaluru, was arrested over his February 14, 2019, Facebook posts that celebrated the deaths of 40 CRPF jawans in an Islamic terrorist attack on their convoy in Jammu and Kashmir.

A suo motu case was filed against Rasheed. The mobile phone of Rasheed was seized by the police and was examined by a forensic science laboratory as part of the investigation. A charge sheet was filed against Rasheed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 124A (sedition) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), and section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge Gangadhara C. M, observed: 

The accused has not made derogatory comments one or two times. He made the comments to all the posts made by all the news channels on facebook. Moreover, he was not an illiterate or ordinary man. He was an engineering student at the time of commission of the offence and he made the posts and commehappy about killing of the great souls and celebrated the death of the great souls as he was not an Indian. Therefore, the offence committed by the accused is against this great nation and heinous in nature. 

The court further said: 

The accused has taken the issue of Rama Mandir in his comments which instigates the religious feelings of Hindu community. He has also commented as one Muslim is equal to 40 persons and Muslim boys are always funny. Further there is evidence to show that the Hindu community people made derogatory comments by enraging the comments made by the accused.

The court further noted that the comments posted by the accused showed that he supported or advocated the terrorist act committed by the terrorists against the Indian Army to disrupt the sovereignty and integrity of India and to cause disaffection against India. 

The Court stressed that February 14, 2019, is a Black Day in the history of India as more than 40 Jawans sacrificed their lives for the nation. 

“Due to the said incident, the whole nation was immersed in an ocean of sorrow. In this situation, the accused celebrated the death of more than 40 Indian Jawans who sacrificed their lives to protect the lives of the citizens of this country and to protect this great nation which has given every citizen of this county including the accused the fundamental rights such as right to equality, freedom of speech and expression, right to life and personal liberty, right against exploitation, right to freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights and constitutional remedies in case of any violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under part-III of the constitution”, the court said as concluding remark.