The Gauhati High Court has quashed a criminal case filed against a CNN-News18 anchor over allegedly defamatory remarks claiming that human sacrifice took place at the Kamakhya Temple in Assam’s Guwahati, Bar and Bench reported.

The remarks were made by Akansha Swarup during an interview with a relative of Raja Raghuvanshi, who was allegedly killed by his wife in Meghalaya earlier this year.

During the broadcast aired in June, Swarup reportedly asked: “Since they had gone to Kamakhya, where sacrifices or human sacrifices are offered, is your family suspicious that this could be a tantric killing?”

Following the telecast, the Cyber Branch Police in Guwahati registered a first information report against Swarup on June 12 under sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita pertaining to promoting enmity, malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings and wounding religious feelings.

She later challenged the FIR before the High Court.

On October 15, Justice Shamima Jahan held that no prudent person could conclude that Swarup made the statement with the intent to create enmity or disharmony between groups and quashed the FIR.

However, the judge observed that Swarup’s statement was “utterly not required” and “careless”, Live Law reported.

“It will not be out of context to mention that the said statements were utterly not required in the facts of the case and were totally careless on the part of the petitioner as well as the interviewee,” Bar and Bench quoted the court as saying. “Statements made in public forums should be well thought of.”

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel had submitted that immediately after the show, the news channel had expressed apology by stating that the anchor had referred to “human sacrifice” erroneously at the Kamakhya Temple and that there was a “complete error of judgement”.

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