Not an offence to call abrogation of Article 370 a black day, rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed a first information report registered against a college professor in Maharashtra for a WhatsApp status criticising the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and for wishing Pakistan on its independence day.

A bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the time has come to “educate our police machinery” on the freedom of expression and the extent to which it can be reasonably restrained.

The Supreme Court was hearing the case of Javed Ahmad Hajam, a professor at a college in Kolhapur, who had in 2022 allegedly posted three messages on his WhatsApp status that said: “August 5-Black Day Jammu & Kashmir”, “14th August Happy Independence Day Pakistan” and “Article 370 was abrogated, we are not happy”.