The sessions court in Mumbai rejected anticipatory bail application of a Pune resident booked for allegedly sharing an objectionable post against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, noting that no case was made out for pre-arrest bail considering the nature of offence against him.
Additional sessions judge Prashant C Kale on June 21 passed an order on an application by city resident Santosh Ramchandra Darekar, apprehending arrest in connection with the FIR registered by Cyber Cell, nodal office.
The FIR was registered for offences punishable under sections 197(1)(c) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 353(2) (public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (BNS) along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
As per the prosecution, the complaint was registered by BJP leader Yojna Virendra Thokle alleging that Darekar shared an objectionable post on Facebook against Fadnavis on May 23.
However, the applicant argued that he was falsely implicated in the case.
He added that while the notice under section 35(3) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) was sent to the applicant, he could not remain present before the investigating officer due to the illness of his mother.
The applicant argued that he was not having any criminal antecedents and was ready to cooperate with the investigating agency and would abide by all the conditions if he was granted anticipatory bail.
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The prosecution opposed the plea stating that Darekar had prima facie committed the offence and his mobile was required to be seized to conduct its technical analysis, and therefore he should not be granted pre-arrest bail.
The court noted that the probe was in progress and there was a “prima facie case against the accused and that can not be ignored or overlooked”.
Rejecting his plea, the court added that Darekar has not complied with notice issued to him and “the grounds for refusal of anticipatory bail put forth by the investigating agency are apparently genuine”.
