Recently, the Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed criminal proceedings initiated against the head of a pharma firm for publishing a condom advertisement featuring a couple playing Garba saying it doesn’t hurt religious sentiments.

“Considering the fact that he himself belongs to the Hindu community, and so also the fact that he posted it from his own mobile number without concealing his identity, it appears that his intention was just to promote the product of his company and not to hurt the religious feelings and sentiments of any community,” the bench comprising Justice Satyendra Kumar Singh said.

The Court also stated that the advertisement was not obscene.

“Upon perusal of the alleged post, it is apparent that the contents of the same are not obscene hence, ingredients of Section 67 of the Information Technology Act are also not fulfilled,” the court said while quashing the proceedings.

The content of the image posted by the applicant had hurt the religious feelings of the Hindu community and such type of offer during the Navratri period itself shows the criminal intention of the applicant, thus, no relief should be granted to him, the Counsel representing the state stated.

The petition was filed by one Mahendra Tripathi, who sought to quash the FIR lodged against him for public mischief and hurting religious sentiments under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with the provisions of the Information Technology Act. In 2018, during the Navratri festival, he posted an Ad of free condoms and pregnancy test kits for couples. He had used an image of a couple playing Garba and had posted the said Ad on WhatsApp groups and also on Facebook.

As per the petitioner, he himself is a Hindu and he had no intention to promote any kind of enmity between religious groups or hurt religious sentiments. He also claimed to have posted the said Ad only in good faith to lure the customers during the Garba period as various condom companies themselves came up with promotional offers.