Gujarat High Court: Case Quashed Over Buddha Image on Saree Pallu, Not Hurting Religious F

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday quashed a criminal case accusing a textile merchant of outraging religious feelings by selling sarees featuring images of Gautam Buddha on their pallus [Bharatbhai Hirjibhai Shankar vs State Of Gujarat].Justice PM Raval ruled that one cannot automatically presume that selling textile materials containing artistic depictions of a deity is an act driven by deliberate malice."Mere printing or selling of textile materials containing artistic depictions of a deity or revered icon, even if appearing on portions of a garment near the lower border or Pallu, cannot automatically be presumed to be an act driven by deliberate malice or calculated to disrupt public order," the Court said. Justice PM Raval Gujarat High CourtMere selling of textile materials containing artistic depictions of a deity, even if appearing near the lower border or Pallu, cannot automatically be presumed to be an act driven by deliberate maliceTo hold that such commercial activities constitute the offence of insulting religious feelings under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), without there being a demonstrable intent to commit such an offence, is impermissible, the Court added."Commercial activity involving religious motifs, undertaken without any overt act, inflammatory rhetoric, or demonstrable intent to denigrate a religious belief, does not cross the threshold into a criminally punishable insult under Section 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelin