[Breaking] Jammu & Kashmir High Court refuses to stay probe against Dipika Singh Rajawat for Tweet on Navratras

The Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) High Court refused to stay the police investigation into a First Information Report (FIR) registered against advocate Dipika Singh Rajawat by J&K police for her Tweet in relation to Navratras. .A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Dhar, on Wednesday, directed that the investigation in the FIR may continue but the final report shall not be filed by the investigating agency before the competent court without permission of the High court.."At this stage, it may not be appropriate to go into the merits of the rival contentions of the parties and it will also be not proper to interfere in the investigation of the FIR, which is stated to be at its infancy. However, before a final view is taken in the matter by the Investigating Agency, this Court needs to go into the issues raised in the instant petition," the Court said. .In her plea, Rajawat had challenged FIR No. 74/2020 for offences under section 295-A (hurting religious sentiments), and 505(2) [statements promoting enmity between classes] IPC registered at Gandhi Nagar police station in Jammu..The FIR was registered based on complaint that Rajawat had tweeted a picture from her official Twitter account showing an image of a woman being revered during the time of Navratras and being sexually assaulted during rest of the year..Rajawat had stated in her plea that the FIR was frivilous and the tweet did not, in any manner, hurt the religious feeling of any community."It simply depicts that the women are being revered during Navratras festival, whereas similar treatment is not given to them during rest of the days of the year," it was argued on behalf of Rajawat. .She, therefore, sought a stay on investigation during the pendency of the present petition for quashing the FIR. .However, the Additional Advocate General (AAG), representing the government, pointed out that after Rajawat put out the controversial tweet, a particular outfit felt agitated and held demonstration in front of her house and she had to seek police protection. On this basis, the AAG submitted that, at this stage, it cannot be stated that the act of the petitioner has not hurt the feelings of any section of the community..The court held that it will not interfere with the investigation which is in its initial stage while also noting that Rajawat has already been protected by way of an anticipatory bail granted by Principal Sessions Judge, Jammu. .The court, therefore, allowed the probe to continue while asking the respondents to file their response. The matter will be heard next on February 9, 2021..[Read Order]