FIR registered against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey quashed by Rajasthan High Court

The Jodhpur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday quashed an FIR registered against Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for allegedly hurting religious sentiments and defaming Brahmins, reports legal news website BarandBench.com.

The FIR had booked Dorsey for alleged commission of offences under Sections 295A, 500, 501, 504, 505 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint was filed after Dorsey had held up a placard stating ‘Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy’ at a meeting he attended during his visit to India.

Complainant Rajkumar Sharma had alleged that the act amounted to spreading hatred against Brahmins and “destroying Indian culture”, and that people from other castes and communities would be incited to commit crimes against Brahmins.

In his plea to quash the FIR, Dorsey had informed the Court that the placard was given to him as a gift by a Dalit woman who shared her story of abuse at the event.

It was claimed that one of the participants of the meeting later tweeted a group photo which had Dorsey holding the placard, without asking for his permission to do so.

It was added that Dorsey was not even aware of the "full and complex meaning of the placard".

Inter alia, it was also argued that mere publication of words ‘Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy’ could not be accepted as hurting the religious sentiments of a person.

The complainant, on the other hand, argued that by uploading the picture of the offending placard, Dorsey had intentionally hurt the religious sentiments of the Brahmin people at large and also defamed the entire Brahmin society.

After considering the submissions made by the parties, the Court opined that it was in conformity with Dorsey's assertions and the words ‘Smash Brahmanical Patriarchy’ could not be construed as having any direct link with the religious sentiments of any section of society.

“The phrase which has been castigated as offending in the FIR, may be construed as laying a challenge to the sociological concepts of a particular section/gender of the Brahmin community, but by no stretch of imagination can it be perceived that these words can even remotely be considered as hurting the religious sentiments of any citizen of India nor the same can be interpreted as creating a religion based rift in any section of society. The words in the poster at best convey the feelings of the concerned person regarding being strongly opposed to the Brahminical Patriarchal system and desirous of denouncing the same,” the court held, said the report carried by BarandBench.com.

"Whether or not to follow or oppose the patriarchal system in the society is a matter of personal choice and cannot be thrust down anyone’s throat," the court added.

In view of the above, the court concluded that the ingredients of the offences alleged are prima facie not made out.

The court also recorded that without prejudice to the above, the person, who "unintentionally" posted the picture on her Twitter, assured it that an apology for placating the sentiments of the complainant or any other person would be posted from her account.

Dorsey was represented by Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani with advocate Ravi Sharma and a team from Karanjawala & Co. headed by senior partner Sandeep Kapur.