In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has held that merely "liking" a social media post does not amount to publishing or transmitting the post, and therefore, cannot attract penal provisions under Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

Section 67 of the IT Act penalizes the publication or transmission of material that is "lascivious" or appeals to "prurient interest." However, Justice Saurabh Srivastava clarified that the scope of the provision is limited to explicit or obscene content and does not extend to mere digital engagement like liking a post.

"A message is considered 'published' when it is posted and 'transmitted' when it is shared or retweeted," the judge explained. "Liking a post does not amount to either."

The Court was dealing with a plea filed by Imran Khan seeking the quashing of a case registered against him after he liked a post by Chaudhari Farhan Usman. The post in question pertained to a proposed protest near the collectorate to submit a memorandum to the President of India.

Khan was accused of sharing provocative messages on social media that allegedly led to a gathering of 600-700 people from the Muslim community, forming a procession without prior permission. The police claimed that the assembly posed a potential threat to public order. Khan was charged under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 67 of the IT Act.

Khan's counsel argued that no objectionable content was found on his Facebook account. The police, however, contended that the content had been deleted, though similar material was found on WhatsApp and other platforms.

After reviewing the case diary and other records, the Court found no evidence of Khan having published or transmitted any objectionable content. The only act attributed to him was liking another person’s post.

"Even otherwise, Section 67 of the IT Act pertains only to obscene content. The words ‘lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest’ are clearly related to sexual material, not to provocative or political content," the Court emphasized.

Accordingly, the Court quashed all proceedings against Khan, concluding that no offence was made out under Section 67 or any other criminal law.

"I do not find any material which could connect the applicant with any objectionable post, as there is no offensive post available in the Facebook and WhatsApp accounts of the applicant," the Court observed in its April 17 judgment.

Advocates Abhishek Ankur Chaurasia and Diwan Saifullah Khan appeared on behalf of the petitioner.