Jammu & Kashmir High Court Stays Proceedings Against Wasim Rizvi (now Jitendra Narayan Tyagi) for Lack of Required Sanction [Read Order]

Jammu: The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar has stayed proceedings against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi (formerly known as Wasim Rizvi), emphasizing the necessity of prior government sanction in cases involving religious sentiments and public tranquility.

Justice Rahul Bharti delivered the order on April 11, 2025, finding prima facie merit in the petitioner’s challenge to the lower court’s actions.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Jitendra Narayan Tyagi seeking quashment of a criminal complaint lodged against him. The court noted:
“The petitioner has come up with the present petition thereby invoking the inherent jurisdiction of this Court preserved under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 [now Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023].”

The complaint alleged that the petitioner, “upon his conversion from ‘Islam’ to ‘Hinduism’, has made utterances denigrating Islam as a religion and maligning its religious scripture, the Quran.” The complainant, Danish Hassan Dar, claimed these statements were published in newspapers and broadcast on news channels, drawing objections from various Muslim organizations across India.

The High Court highlighted a procedural lapse by the Judicial Magistrate 1st Class (2nd Additional Munsiff), Srinagar, stating:
“The Judicial Magistrate has latched on to take cognizance of the complaint without bothering to have even an elementary reading of Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which mandates previous sanction of the Central Government or the State Government.”

The court underscored the legal requirement under Section 196 CrPC, which necessitates prior sanction for taking cognizance of offenses under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between groups), 295-A (insulting religious beliefs), and 505(1) (statements conducive to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.

Further elaborating on the legislative intent behind Section 196, the court observed:
“There is a legislative purpose inhering in Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, in prescribing previous sanction… to set a safe reference point in the institution of criminal complaints… ensuring prior attention of the Central Government, State Government, or the District Magistrate concerned is duly engaged.”

The High Court has stayed all proceedings in the case titled “Danish Hassan Dar vs Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi” and directed the court registry to obtain the original complaint record from the lower court.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on July 7, 2025, with notice to the complainant to be served by May 1, 2025.

Mr. Ankur Sharma, Advocate, appeared for the petitioner.
Case Title: Jitendra Narayan Tyagi @ Syed Wasim Rizvi vs UT of J&K & Anr.

[Read Order]