Karnataka High Court issues guidelines to police against mechanical FIRs over social media posts

Key facts

• Karnataka High Court Justice M Nagaprasanna issued guidelines on October 16 to prevent multiple cases over the same incident and the arbitrary exercise of police powers, directing the state's director general and inspector general of police to circulate them and ensure compliance.
• The guidelines were issued while quashing a criminal case against Sandeep Kumar, who was booked for allegedly promoting enmity after reposting on X a news report about six young men threatening a woman with a knife.
• The guidelines direct police to examine whether a complaint discloses the essential ingredients of an offence before registering an FIR and to check whether a case has already been registered over the same incident or a substantially identical post.
• Police must conduct a preliminary inquiry under Section 173(3) of the BNSS where legally permissible and scrutinise the specific ingredients and intent required to invoke Section 353(2) of the BNS, which penalises circulating false information or rumours to promote enmity between communities.
• The court held that the effect of words must be judged by the standards of reasonable, strong-minded and courageous people, not those who perceive every criticism as a threat.
• The court noted that the Supreme Court has recognised in previous judgments that criticism and protest fall within the protection of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.