A 22-year-old student was sentenced to five years of simple imprisonment and was fined Rs 25,000 for making derogatory comments on Facebook posts after the terrorist attack on CRPF jawans in Pulwama in 2019.
The order was passed by a special court in Bengaluru.
The court found him guilty under Section 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion,) and Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).
However, the trial was not conducted on Section 124A (Sedition) and it was kept in abeyance as per the Supreme Court directions keeping it in suspension.
The order was passed by Judge Gangadhara CM of the Additional City Civil & Sessions Judge (Special Judge for trial of NIA Cases).
The accused, Faiz Rasheed, was 19 and a college student at the time of the crime and has been in custody for three-and-a-half years.
He was sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three years and pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for the offence under Section 153-A of the IPC. He was sentenced to simple imprisonment for a period of three years and a fine of Rs 5,000 for the offence under Section 201 of the IPC.
He was sentenced to five years and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for the offence under Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The sentences will run concurrently.
Rasheed had made 23 comments on the posts of various media outlets celebrating the terrorist attack and mocking the Army.
