Jaleel's controversial Kashmir post; court rejects suit against him

New Delhi: Delhi's Rose Avenue Court rejected a plea filed by a BJP activist cum Supreme Court lawyer seeking a direction to the Delhi Police to file a case against former Higher Education Minister in Kerala, KT Jaleel, over a controversial Kashmir reference on his Facebook post. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal observed that it does not appear that KT Jaleel has committed those charges, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, alleged against him by the complainant and therefore, the petition is dismissed.

In its order, the court stated that even his statement that the people of Kashmir are not happy is not supported by any authority or survey, Jaleel's opinion is protected by Article 19 of the Constitution. The court pointed out that freedom of expression in a democracy leads to a free discussion on issues and plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion on social, political and economic problems. There is also a provision that freedom of expression is protected for activities that society finds highly offensive and that mere displeasure to society is not a justification for suppressing freedom of expression, the court observed.