On December 19, Justices Sunil Shukre and MW Chandwani of the Bombay High Court's Division Bench in Nagpur quashed a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against a man who hacked MLA Ravi Rana's Facebook page and used abusive language against his political opponents. The court also stated that Indian democracy has advanced so far that tolerance for fair criticism, dissent, and satirical comments have become its hallmark."Social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. today has become a powerful medium for exchange of views, expressing opinions, counter opinions, and posting critical or satirical comments and thus has become one of the important pillars on which our democracy stands," "In addition, one has to be careful when one expresses one’s view or makes comments that the words used are not obscene or undignified or demeaning. In other words, a balance has to be struck between the need for healthy use of social media and the need for preventing misuse of social media."

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by a 39-year-old man seeking to quash an FIR filed against him under Section 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for posting abusive content after hacking MLA Ravi Rana's Facebook page. According to the prosecution, the accused intended to sow discord among various groups by using abusive language against Rana's political opponents.

As a result, the Court dismissed the FIR in the hope that the parties would exercise restraint in the future.

"A crime not disclosed has been registered against the applicant on the one hand and a new ebb in showing dissent through lewd comments has been attained by the applicant on the other. We hope, in future some restrain will be shown by both sides."

Case Title: Suraj Arvind Thakare v. State of Maharashtra
Citation: CRIMINAL APPLICATION (APL) NO.701 OF 2022