‘Anti-national’ posts to hit passport clearance

DEHRADUN: Applying for a passport in Uttarakhand?

Well, you’d better not have made what the state’s top policeman termed “anti-national posts” on social media. Applying for a gun licence in Uttarakhand? See answer above.

At a time when comments and posts seen as critical of the government are seen as anti-national, the comments of Ashok Kumar, the hill-state’s DGP have caused a stir.

They were made on Tuesday, the concluding day of state Police Officers Conference held at police headquarters in Dehradun.

“Until now, in cases of any person putting up any anti-national posts on social media, the police used to counsel them. A case was registered only if it was a very serious case,” he added.

Under the new approach, he said, ”the police would scrutinise social media accounts to check if they were habitual posters of anti-national posts”.

Those identified as such would see the police not signing off on their so-called police verification -- mandatorily required for passports or arms licences.

A second police officer said the police took the decision to combat “an increase in the number of people putting antinational posts on social media in the state.”

“The number of such posts on social media platforms have increased which is a clear threat to the law and order.”

Lawyers believe the move is an “infringement” of an individual’s freedom of expression.

Kartikeya Gupta, senior lawyer at Uttarakhand High Court, said: “It is a complete infringement of an individual’s freedom expression. Police has no right to decide whether any post on social media is anti-national or not; it is the job of the courts.”