FB page admin, 1 other booked for post against Karnataka HC judge

According to FIR, Ateeq Shariff posted derogatory content on February 12 against one of the judges questioning his credentials and integrity.

The cybercrime division of Bengaluru registered a case against the administrator of a Facebook page ‘Manglore Muslims’, and another person who had posted against one of the three judges of the Karnataka High Court hearing the hijab case.

Those who had liked the Facebook post against the judge may also incur the penal action, a police officer said. (AP/Representative use)

According to FIR, one Ateeq Shariff posted derogatory content on February 12 against one of the judges questioning his credentials and integrity.

Those who had liked the post against the judge may also incur the penal action, a police officer said.

This incident comes close on the heels of derogatory remarks against the same judge by Kannada actor Chetan Kumar Ahimsa who was arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

The three-judge bench specially constituted to hear the hijab case comprises Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit. The HC has heard the case and the order is pending.

In a tweet referring to a case in 2020 where the judge gave bail to a rape accused, noting that the complainant explained that she was tired and had fallen asleep after the sexual assault, the actor questioned the judge. In his judgement justice, Justice Dixit had mentioned that the victim’s actions were “unbecoming of an Indian woman; that is not the way our women react when they are ravished.”

“…Justice Krishna Dixit made such disturbing comments in a rape case. Now, this same judge is determining whether #hijabs are acceptable or not in govt schools. Does he have the clarity required?” the actor had tweeted.

Earlier, two persons from Udupi were detained by Mangaluru police for liking and commenting on objectionable and divisive posts on the ‘Mangalore Muslim’ page.

“The Manglore Muslim page in Facebook was under the police radar for defending (Bajrang Dal worker) Harsha’s murder and a suo motto case have been filed against the page. We have requested Facebook to track the page’s origin and its digital footprints. In 2016, the ‘Mangalore Muslim’ page had uploaded an objectionable post, which was blocked through a court order,” said Mangaluru Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar.

However, they were let off following interrogation. “There was confusion that they liked a post defending Harsha murder but on interrogation, we found that they liked the Manglore Muslim icon. We have released them as of now and asked them to appear whenever summoned in the coming days,” Kumar clarified.

After the 2016 ban, the Manglore Muslim page is active again with changes in alphabets, the letter ‘A’ from Mangalore.

“A special police cell has been closely monitoring social media since January. We have seen a lot of progress in our Social Media Cell under DCP, Law and Order, Hariram Shankar and seven other staff. As many as 1064 social media pages, WhatsApp, Twitter and troll accounts are being monitored”, disclosed the police commissioner.

He further added that those commenting, liking and sharing derogatory messages will also be punished. “Those who comment, like and share objectionable posts are the equal offenders and ignorance of the law is no excuse “, warned Shashikumar.

He further added that the police are also keeping track of a WhatsApp group named ‘Muslim Defense Force’ comprising 40 members.