Vigilant tweet by resident of society about breach of COVID-19 norms cannot constitute violation under Section 144 CrPC: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has quashed a First Information Report (FIR), registered against a man for violation of Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after he had tweeted about breach of Covid-19 protocols in his society (Tarun Jain v. State of UP)..The Court said that a vigilant tweet by resident of a society about breach of Covid-19 norms can't constitute a violation under Section 144..While quashing the FIR, single-judge Justice JJ Munir, said that the prosecution failed to disclose a cognizable case against the applicant and it was a "reckless abuse of the process of court."The court also cautioned the police authorities against registering/filing such reports against respectable citizens."The Commissioner of Police, Gautam Buddh Nagar ought to bear caution and ensure that frivolous prosecutions, like the one in question, are not launched against respectable citizens.".The application under Section 482 was moved by one, Tarun Jain, against whom an FIR was lodged for tweeting about breach of Covid-19 protocols in his society/colony. The tweet said that maid servants and courier boys were entering the society, where Jain resides, without sanitizing themselves and the maintenance staff have not provided sanitizers to enable persons entering the society to sanitise themselves. FIR was registered against Jain on the ground that the tweet by him spread a rumor and violated the prohibitory order under Section 144. The FIR was lodged for offences under Sections 182 (false information, with intent to cause public servant to use his lawful power to the injury of another person, 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant) and 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) of the Indian Penal Code and even the Magistrate had taken cognizance of the offence, by means of an order dated July 7, 2020 and had issued summons to the applicant to stand trial..The counsel for applicant-accused submitted that, though a notice under Section 41A of the CrPC was issued to the applicant, asking him to be present at the police station on March 25, 2020, but when he went there, the Police did not record his statement or ask him any questions; rather they released him on furnishing a personal bond. Further, it was submitted that no prima facie case was made out against the applicant, inasmuch as his act in saying that maid servants were entering the society without sanitizing their hands etc. and that there was no provision made by the society’s maintenance staff for the ready availability of sanitizers, the intention of the applicant ex-facie was to secure the health of residents. .After examining the statements recorded by the Police under Section 161, the Court said it failed to understand how a vigilant tweet by a resident of a society about breach of the Covid-19 protocol in relation to outsiders entering the premises could constitute a violation of prohibitory orders under Section 144. "Assuming that the applicant, a resident of the Golf City Society, was wrong in his information carried in the tweet, how would the tweet amount to a rumor that violated prohibitory orders promulgated under Section 144 of the Code in the district, is beyond comprehension. Suppression of any breach of the Covid-19 protocol could have devastating consequences, rather than an over zealous misreporting of a fact, even if that stand of the Police were to be believed as true.".In this regard, the court said that if the Police had recorded statements of some residents of the society, and those in charge of the maintenance there, it would have taken the records and investigation of the police seriously, but it failed to do so."Whatever of the Case Diary has been annexed by the applicant shows statements of the first informant and other policemen recorded, carrying a parroted version of facts that ex-facie do not inspire any confidence. An unfair, biased, one-sided investigation is no investigation in the eyes of law, and vitiates the resultant charge-sheet as held by the Supreme Court in Babubhai v. State of Gujarat & Others," the Court said. .The criminal proceedings against the applicant were, therefore, quashed."In the result, this application succeeds and stands allowed. The proceedings of Case No. 1111 of 2020, State v. Tarun Jain,.. pending before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate-II, Gautam Buddh Nagar are hereby quashed.".[Read order]