FIR against woman over comments on PM Modi: Is crude language a crime in India?

Protesters at Parliament Street, New Delhi, in July. (Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)On Wednesday (July 29), Noida Police registered a Zero FIR against a 25-year-old woman, Ruchika Singh, over remarks made about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The FIR invokes Sections 352, 353(1) and 356(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — covering insult, public mischief and defamation. The case has triggered a public debate, veering into moralistic notions about profanity, especially against public leaders. Is crude language a crime in India?Obscenity as an offence The provision most commonly reached for in such disputes is Section 296 of the BNS (Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code). It punishes “whoever, to the annoyance of others, (a) does any obscene ac