Santosh Pandit Arrest: NCP-SP's Anish Gawande Writes to Pune Police, Says 'Laws Must Not Be Weaponised To Settle Political Scores'

NCP-SP spokesperson Anish Gawande on Thursday wrote a letter to the Pune Police over the arrest of social media influencer Santosh Pandit, saying that the “laws must not be weaponised to settle political scores”. He added that Pandit’s arrest at 1am without prior notice “violates the DGP’s own binding directions to prevent arbitrary arrests”.

Why was Pandit arrested?

Pune Police registered a case and arrested Pandit for allegedly circulating objectionable and defamatory content and videos related to Maharashtra Minister Chandrakant Patil and a woman corporator of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on social media.

According to the complaint, the accused allegedly uploaded and circulated objectionable content through a YouTube account. The complainant alleged that the posts and videos were defamatory and objectionable and had garnered a large number of views.

Subsequently, an FIR was registered at Kothrud Police Station under Sections 75(1)(iv), 75(3), 356(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Gawande’s statement

Gawande said all charges against Pandit carry a maximum sentence of three years or less. Under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), serving a notice of appearance is the mandatory default procedure, he noted. Conducting a 1am raid without prior notice therefore directly violates the DGP’s own binding directions aimed at preventing arbitrary arrests, he added.

“Applying BNS Section 75 (sexual harassment) and IT Act Section 67 over a video questioning civic road works involving a minister is a transparent attempt to turn a bailable matter into a non-bailable one. Laws made to protect women must not be weaponised to settle political scores,” the NCP-SP spokesperson said.

Gawande claimed that the “actual reason” for Pandit’s arrest was his “persistent criticism of the government”.

“Pandit has been consistently highlighting various civic and governance issues, and his online content reaches a wide audience. There is every reason to believe that his persistent criticism of the government and his online reach are the actual reasons behind this swift action, rather than any genuine offence under cyber law,” he said.