On April 8, the Supreme Court annulled a prior order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which mandated a fine of ₹10 Lakhs on musician Vishal Dadlani and activist Tehseen Poonawala for allegedly insulting Jain Saint Tarun Sagar on Twitter

The case originated from Dadlani's critical tweet on Tarun Sagar's nude appearance and Poonawala's controversial post, which was a photoshop image of a semi nude woman alongside the jain monk. Poonawalla also raised a question on societal standards in his tweet.

This drew public attention and backlash against them. The High Court quashed the FIR registered against them,with directions to both individuals to make charitable contributions, reinforcing the importance of maintaining respect towards religious sentiments in the digital age.

In its order the High court had stated, “ If the contribution made by the petitioners towards poor people is compared to the contribution made by Jain Muni Tarun Sagar, it is apparent that the petitioners have played a mischief to gain publicity without having much to their credit.”

The High Court had initially upheld their accountability but the Supreme Court judges, Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, asserted that no offense was substantiated against Dadlani and Poonawala, emphasizing their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).

The Judges critiqued the High Court for breaching its limits by imposing costs and acknowledged that the role of the judiciary does not include moral policing.

"We are of the view that after finding that absolutely no offence was made out when exercising jurisdiction under Section 482 of the CrPC, High Court ought not to have exercised advisory jurisdiction by telling the appellant that the contribution made by the priest was much more than what the appellant and the other accused have contributed. Function of the court is not to do moral policing", the Court said.

Despite this judgment, the High Court's focus on public sentiment towards the Jain monk and the mocking of religious figures sparked a larger conversation about social media and accountability.

Case no.- SLP(Crl) No. 7550/2019

Case Title - Tehseen Poonawalla v. State of Haryana and Anr.