Liking obscene posts is not a crime: Allahabad High Court

In a significant judgment, the Allahabad High Court has said that liking an “obscene” post on social media is not a crime, but sharing or reposting such content will attract legal consequences.

The court, in its judgment on Wednesday, pointed out that sharing of such posts falls under the category of “transmission” as per Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act and would be subject to punishment.

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Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal made the comments when he quashed the criminal proceedings against Mohammed Imran Qazi of Agra, who has been booked under section 67 of the IT Act and Indian Penal Code for liking a post related to unlawful assembly. Was charged under other sections.

“I do not find any material that could link the applicant to any objectionable post, as no objectionable post is available in the Facebook and WhatsApp accounts of the applicant. Therefore, no case is made out against the applicant.”

Justice Deshwal clarified that while the IT Act criminalizes dissemination of obscene material, in this particular case, “the applicant has liked Farhan Usman’s post for unlawful assembly, but liking a post does not amount to publishing or disseminating the post.” It will not be equivalent to doing so; therefore, merely liking a post will not attract Section 67 of the IT Act.

The court also highlighted that Section 67 of the IT Act deals with obscene material and not inflammatory material.

Kazmi faced a criminal case for liking “provocative” messages on social media, which resulted in a procession by around 600–700 persons from the Muslim community without permission. The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Agra took note of the chargesheet and issued a non-bailable warrant against him on June 30