'Babri Masjid Will One Day Be Rebuilt': Supreme Court Refuses Plea To Quash Case Over Facebook Post

Last Updated:October 28, 2025, 18:31 IST

The petitioner, law graduate Mohd Faiyyaz Mansuri, was booked in August 2020 in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh

The petitioner’s counsel argued before the Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi that the post was merely an expression of "hope and opinion" and was protected under Article 19(1)(a)—the fundamental right to freedom of speech. File pic/PTI

The Supreme Court of India on Monday dismissed a plea seeking to quash a criminal case against a man over a 2020 social media post concerning the Babri Masjid, emphasising the trial court should rule on the facts of the contentious matter. The petitioner, Mohd Faiyyaz Mansuri, a law graduate, was booked in August 2020 after his Facebook post, reportedly in Hindi, stated, “Babri Masjid will one day be rebuilt, just like Turkey’s Sophia Mosque."

The legal battle stems from this single line, which authorities deemed provocative, leading to an FIR lodged against Mansuri in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. He was booked under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), among others. Furthermore, the district magistrate subsequently invoked the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against him, which the Allahabad High Court later quashed in September 2021, granting him relief from preventive detention.

The petitioner’s counsel argued before the Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi that the post was merely an expression of “hope and opinion" and was protected under Article 19(1)(a)—the fundamental right to freedom of speech. Mansuri also claimed his account was hacked and that the allegedly vulgar comments that appeared beneath his post, which were also part of the complaint, were made by a third party using a fake account. He pointed out that while the investigation into the other accused was closed, he alone continued to face prosecution.

However, the Supreme Court was visibly disinclined to interfere at this pre-trial stage. When the counsel pressed the point, Justice Kant cautioned him, stating, “Don’t invite any comment from us," signalling the court’s reluctance to offer an opinion on the post’s content that could prejudice the ongoing trial. The bench ultimately allowed the petition to be withdrawn and affirmed that all the defence pleas and contentions raised by Mansuri must be considered by the trial court on their own merit. The verdict essentially forces Mansuri to face the full criminal trial process, underscoring the legal tightrope walk between freedom of expression and the potential for statements on sensitive communal issues to incite public mischief.

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