Jitendra Tyagi, formerly Wasim Rizvi, was acquitted in the 2021 Haridwar hate speech case. The court found no solid proof or religious unrest caused by his speech.
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Uttarakhand: In a recent judgment from a court in Haridwar, Jitendra Tyagi, who was earlier known as Wasim Rizvi, has been declared not guilty in a hate speech case from 2021 related to the Haridwar Dharam Sansad.
The case was about some comments made during a religious event (Dharam Sansad) held in Haridwar from December 17 to 19, 2021. On January 2, 2022, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Tyagi. He was accused of making offensive statements against Islam and Prophet Muhammad. At that time, this matter created controversy and led to legal action.
Tyagi, who is also the former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board, had earlier converted from Islam to Hinduism. His statements were spread widely on social media, and they became the main part of the case.
However, the court, led by Chief Judicial Magistrate Avinash Srivastava, found that there was not enough solid evidence to prove Tyagi guilty under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 153A, which deals with promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion.
The judge clearly explained that,
“For an offence under Section 153A of the IPC, it is not sufficient for just one individual to feel hurt. Nor is causing offence an essential ingredient of the offence under this section. While hurting religious sentiments through spoken words may be punishable under Section 298 IPC, it is essential that such words be uttered in the hearing or presence of the person allegedly offended — which is not the case here.”
This means, according to the court, that Section 153A cannot be applied just because one person felt offended. Also, the words were not said in front of the person who claimed to be hurt, which is necessary under Section 298 IPC.
During the hearing, the court also noticed that the main proof was a video clip. The person who complained (the complainant) admitted that he had received the video through social media, saved it on his phone, and later moved it to a pen drive to give to the police.
But the judge said that such social media videos cannot always be trusted.
He mentioned,
“Messages circulated on social media are generally viral in nature and meant for public consumption. Therefore, the video footage available on the complainant’s mobile cannot be considered authentic evidence under the category of electronic records. It also cannot be ruled out that the content shared with the complainant may have been tampered with by the sender.”
The court was careful in checking if the evidence was real and reliable. Since the video came from social media and there was no proper verification, the court decided it was not strong enough to be used as main proof.
Also, the court looked at the statements made by witnesses during cross-examination.
The judge said,
“no religious tension arose following the speech.”
This meant that even after the speech was made, there were no fights or serious religious problems that happened. So, the court did not find a clear impact from the speech that could prove harm was done.
Because of all these reasons, the court decided that Jitendra Tyagi should be acquitted — meaning he is not guilty and is free from the charges in this case.
This judgment is important because it highlights how courts look at the law carefully and examine all evidence properly, especially in sensitive matters related to religion and speech.
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