Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court has stayed criminal proceedings against a man booked for his Facebook post expressing anguish over the death of his wife during treatment at a hospital. Justice Dr. Yogendra Kumar Srivastava passed the order Tuesday on a plea filed by one Ashok Kumar Gautam against whom proceedings have been initiated over his Facebook post. The order was uploaded on the court's website Friday.
The application was filed seeking to quash the chargesheet dated October 31, 2020 and entire proceedings in the matter. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the proceedings have been initiated pursuant to an FIR filed on July 25 last year containing allegations primarily relating to a Facebook post which is essentially an expression of anguish of the applicant due to the death of his wife. It is pointed out that the applicant submitted a complaint to the Chief Medical Officer, District Meerut, on September 21, 2020.