SC puts the brakes on moral policing; overturns Rs 10 lakh fine for mocking social media posts

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that moral policing is not the role of the judiciary, reported TOI.

The top court made remark while overturning a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that had directed musician Vishal Dadlani and politician Tehseen Poonawalla to pay a Rs 10 lakh fine for their tweets mocking a Jain monk.

According to TOI, a bench consisting of Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned how the high court could impose such a penalty on the two for their social media posts after ruling that no criminal offence had been committed.


The high court had previously quashed an FIR against them in 2019, concluding that no offences under Sections 153A, 295A, or 509 of the IPC were established.

However, it still suggested imposing a fine of Rs 10 lakh on each of the singer and politician to deter them from mocking religious figures for social media attention in the future, said the report.

“We believe that after concluding that no offence was made out in exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC, the High Court should not have exercised advisory powers by suggesting to the appellants that their contribution was lesser than that of the priest. The court's role is not to engage in moral policing,” said the top court bench.

"The High Court upheld the appellants' fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Having found no offence, there was no basis for imposing a fine on the appellants or the other petitioner,” the bench further noted.