Court rejects plea to quash FIR over emoji, says woman's posts insulted PM and flag

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday declined to quash a first information report against a Pune woman who allegedly reacted with a laughing emoji to a message praising Operation Sindoor and posted WhatsApp content that the complainant said was offensive to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian flag, while also reportedly describing India as "makkar", or deceitful.

The division bench, comprising Justices AS Gadkari and Rajesh Patil, held that the woman's actions constituted a prima facie case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as they appeared to promote enmity between groups and posed a threat to the sovereignty, integrity, and unity of the country. The court also took note of a statement attributed to her in which she allegedly justified her language by citing her familial ties to Pakistan, with both her maternal and paternal sides said to be of Pakistani origin.

The case arose after another resident of her housing society filed a complaint over her reaction in a WhatsApp group to a message supporting the military operation, as well as her alleged WhatsApp status updates that were considered derogatory towards national symbols. The posts reportedly triggered public outrage within the residential complex, leading to protests by residents and a demand for police action.

The FIR invoked sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that deal with endangering national integrity, inciting communal disharmony, and provoking breach of peace, and the bench said her digital expressions during a time of heightened national sentiment around Operation Sindoor indicated a clear intention to provoke.

In her defence, the woman, identified as Farah Deeba, argued that she had been mentally unwell at the time of making the posts and had deleted them upon realising the reaction they evoked, while also claiming she had faced consequences in the form of job termination from her teaching position. However, the court held that her explanations were insufficient, particularly considering her educational background and the need for prudence when expressing views that might stir communal or national tensions.

Operation Sindoor had been launched by the Indian military on May 7 in retaliation for a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 persons, with strikes targeting what India described as terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Pakistani military had responded with heavy cross-border shelling that killed at least 22 Indian civilians and eight defence personnel, before both sides reportedly reached a temporary ceasefire agreement on May 10.

The court concluded that the woman’s posts, in the context of the national mood and the sensitivity of the ongoing conflict, could not be dismissed as trivial expressions, and noted that her claim of mental instability could not override the intent inferred from her actions.