The Kerala High Court recently dismissed criminal proceedings against an Australian tourist of Jewish heritage, who had been charged by the Fort Kochi police for removing posters related to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas observed that the posters had been put up without proper legal authorization. As a result, he concluded that removing the posters could not be considered an illegal act, though he noted that, ideally, the tourist should have allowed the relevant authorities to handle their removal.

"If a poster has been put up without authority, it is irrefutably an illegal act. Removal of an illegal poster cannot be said to be an illegal act done malignantly or wantonly, even if it is done by a private individual, though ideally, petitioner ought to have approached the law enforcement agencies, instead of tearing it by herself. Since tearing down a poster kept without any legal authority cannot strictly fall within the term illegal act, the main ingredient of Section 153 is lacking in the final report," the Court observed.

The tourist was in Fort Kochi when she noticed two posters bearing the slogan "Silence is Violence, Stand up for humanity." Disturbed by the message, she and her friend attempted to have the posters removed through the local tourism office, but when that effort failed, they decided to tear the posters down themselves.

Following this incident, the Area Secretary of the Students Islamic Organization, a student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, lodged a complaint against the tourist. A criminal case was registered under Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which penalizes acts that could intentionally provoke a riot.

Although the tourist later secured bail, she was prevented from leaving the country due to a lookout notice issued against her, resulting in her detention at the airport. In response, she challenged the validity of the proceedings initiated against her in the High Court.

On September 10, the Court granted her relief, noting that the essential elements of the offense under Section 153 of the IPC were absent in this case. The Court stated, "The final report does not even allege that the posters were torn with the intention to provoke or knowing that it would incite someone to commit the offense of rioting. It remains silent on whether the petitioner was aware that tearing the poster would lead to a rioting offense or provoke others to riot," ultimately quashing the criminal case.

Advocates Blaze K Jose, Nikhil Sanjay, Treesa Rose, and Airine Joby represented the tourist, while Public Prosecutor Sreeja V represented the State.