Prayagraj, May 8 -- The Allahabad high court has refused to quash the criminal case against two men, who allegedly posted anti-national and objectionable content against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). Dismissing the petition filed by accused Jubair Ansari and Izahar Alam, who had filed the present petition for quashing of the case and the chargesheet filed by the police before a Sonbhadra court last year, justice Saurabh Srivastava said that the allegations against the accused prima facie stand corroborated as the trial court has taken cognisance of the offences invoked by the police. The court said that RSS is an organisation that has been rendering service to various sections of society with its allied groups for the last 100 years. It added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been elected by a majority of citizens. "The post initiated by the applicant over Facebook amounted to a deliberate and malicious attempt to outrage religious feelings, as on the face of it, the conduct of the applicant in depicting the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh(RSS), which is an organisation rendering its services to the various sections of society with its allied organisation for last 100 years, along with the Prime Minister of this country who is indirectly elected by the majority of citizens of our country who invoked their right to vote for a particular political party," the Court said. The accused are facing charges under various provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for allegedly promoting enmity in the society and attempting to provoke breach of peace with their statements. It was alleged that the Facebook account of the accused persons shows that almost every post was anti-national, against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS. The counsel representing the accused argued that the FIR was a result of a malicious intent to harass them. On the other hand, the state government counsel said that the case should be allowed to proceed before the trial court. Considering the submissions, the high court at the outset said that people on social media sometimes cross the line by uploading posts without understanding the consequences of their acts. The court further said that section 196(1)(a) of the BNS is attracted to social media posts when the content deliberately promotes enmity, hatred, or ill-will between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community. "Under this section, a post can lead to a cognisable offence (meaning police can register an FIR and arrest without a warrant), if it disrupts public harmony," the court said. Considering the material on record, the court said it cannot be said that no offence was made out against the accused. "The assertions of false implication raised by the applicants are factual issues that requires proper adjudication by the trial court based on evidence and cannot be conclusively determined in proceedings under section 528 (inherent powers of high court) of BNSS," the court said in its decision dated April 29. htc...