Justice Sanjay Dhar was hearing a plea filed by advocate Muzamil Butt, seeking to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him for charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). Butt was booked for his Facebook posts criticising the killings of eight civilians in violence that took place at Laroo village, Kulgam district.
The Bench noted that Butt had, on his Facebook and other social media platforms, expressed outrage and condemnation of certain incidents, which was within his right to free speech.
However, in two other posts, Butt went to the extent of implying that Kashmir has been occupied by the military, which is like a cancer, and also that people of Kashmir are like slaves of the government. Taking note of these posts, the Court said,
“In my opinion, the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution cannot be stretched to such a limit as to allow a person to question the status of a part of the country or its people. It is one thing to criticize the government for its negligence and express outrage on the violation of human rights of the people but it is quite another to advocate that the people of a particular part of the country are slaves of the government of India or that they are under occupation of armed forces of the Country,” the Court said.
Source: Barandbench
