Guj HC quashes FIRs against Teesta Setalvad over Twitter post

The Gujarat High Court on Wednesday quashed two FIRs filed against activist Teesta Setalvad for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by tweeting a photoshopped picture.

Justice A S Supehia quashed the FIRs filed against Setalvad in Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar.

Setalvad is known for championing the cause of the victims of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The FIRs were filed after she tweeted a photoshopped picture of IS terrorists with slain American journalist James Foley with a religious image in the background.

She deleted the tweet later.

A Vishwa Hindu Parishad worker, Raju Patel, had filed a complaint against Setalvad for 'hurting religious sentiments' at Ghatlodia police station here in August 2014.

In both the cases, sections 153 (A) (promoting enmity between religious groups) and 295 (A) (outraging religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code alongwith the Information Technology Act were invoked.

Seeking quashing of the FIRs, Setalvad's lawyers had argued that she did not tweet the picture with an intention to hurt religious sentiments and cited Supreme Court judgements to back her case.