The Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday quashed an FIR registered against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and film critic Anna M.M. Vetticad in 2018 for posting a picture in which Mr. Dorsey, accompanied by some journalists, was holding a banner stating “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy”.
Rajkumar Sharma, a resident of Jodhpur, had registered the FIR through a complaint filed in the court with the contention that the Twitter post had maligned the Brahmin community and hurt his religious sentiments.
The High Court had stayed the arrest of Mr. Dorsey in December 2018, but refused to quash the FIR. The FIR was registered under IPC sections pertaining to outraging religious feelings, defamation and public mischief.
Justice Mehta at the High Court’s principal seat in Jodhpur ruled that the impugned phrase had only challenged the sociological concepts of a particular section of Brahmin community.
The court did find any offence made out against Mr. Dorsey and Ms. Vetticad and said that allowing investigation in the matter by the police was “absolutely uncalled for”. “The impugned FIR does not disclose necessary ingredients of any cognisable offence.”