THE LATEST FIR AGAINST TWITTER PERSONALITY ‘MS. MEDUSA’ for a polemical and satirical video in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack is yet another example of the misuse of the criminal law.
The FIR, a copy of which I have perused, makes no concrete allegations. All the FIR alleges is that her videos are attacking India's unity, integrity, and sovereignty through posts on her X (formerly Twitter) handle (@ms_medusssa). The posts have been described as an alleged threat to peace and order, with the potential to incite riots, and produced with the alleged purpose of being shared by Pakistani media. Ms. Medusa is also accused of using supposedly hateful terms like ‘Saffron-terrorist’ on social media.
The FIR invokes Sections 197(1) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief), 196(1)(a) (promoting enmity between groups), 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings), and 152 (acts endangering sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita, 2024 (‘BNS’), as well as Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (power to block public access to information).
From a bare perusal of the FIR and her videos, it is evident that none of the offences are made out. Note here that there is nothing in the videos uploaded that deal with any religion, caste or language. Nor do the videos refer to any persons belonging to any religion. Further, it would be foolish to say that the videos promote enmity between different groups, much less that the statements are detrimental to national unity. Nor has the complainant shown any causal link between the posts and the alleged consequence.
