In an action which is construed as a warning for the social media users who post their views without taking into consideration the susceptibility of those in power, a case under some stringent sections of IT Act has been slapped on a former BJP leader for a Facebook (FB) post involving Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and a senior BJP leader and Vikasnagar MlA Munna Singh Chauhan.
The trigger of the action is a FB post sent by a former BJP leader who was once a friend of Chauhan, Subhash Sharma, on Saturday. The post purportedly claimed that a spat occurred between CM and Chauhan when the latter went to the CM’s residence with some works. As per the post, CM reacted angrily to something he broached and asked Chauhan curtly not to come again to which a livid Chauhan purportedly replied that he would never step into the CM’s residence again. The FB post turning viral once it was posted left the State BJP brass to scurry for cover as the party’s national president Amit Shah was in Dehradun on the day.
Reacting angrily to the FB post, Chauhan asked Sharma to publicly apologise or face legal action. Sharma deleted the FB post by the evening of the day, but making it clear that he was not to be cowed down by the threat he posted a video which caused additional heart burns for Chauhan. Stung by it, an exasperated Chauhan lodged a complaint against Sharma in the Vikasnagar police station on Sunday. In the complaint Chauhan alleged that the details given in FB post were false and fabricated, meant to tarnish his image and that of the CM. Acting on the complaint of the BJP MlA, the Vikasnagar police filed a case against Sharma under IT act.
When contacted by The Pioneer, Sharma claimed that the incident mentioned in his FB post had very much happened at CM's residence on June 20 and the BJP MlA Chauhan had been made to wait for two hours by the CM before the meeting took place. He further said that the FB post had been removed by him after Chauhan raised objection. Sharma further said that the post was not meant to malign anybody. “The action that followed-lodging a case against me- reveals intolerance on the part of the BJP leader. Significantly enough, only a day ago, Amit Shah urged the party workers to be more active and fearless on the social media platforms.
The action taken against me is clearly against the spirit of the party president’s view. It also brings to the fore the fact that the BJP leaders are not tolerant enough to digest things which are not palatable for them,” he said. He further ridiculed the police for filing the case under section 66 of IT Act. “This is an instance of police high-handedness as the section involves fraudulent hacking of computer or system,” he said.
Quizzed over whether the action smacks of intolerance of the unfavourable posts on social media, Chauhan said that the charge is baseless. “I have just lodged a complaint in the police station against an objectionable post and the law enforcing agency has acted on it in a manner it considered right,” he said.
Meanwhile, the State BJP unit has distanced itself from the episode after it sparked ripples in the state’s political realm. The state party general secretary Gajraj Singh Bisht sought to make light of things, saying that Sharma was not even a member of the party at any point of time.