The Bombay High Court, on Tuesday, rejected the transit pre-arrest bail application of filmmaker Avinash Das, who was booked by the Gujarat Police last week for disrespecting tricolour and sharing a picture of union Home Minister Amit Shah with tainted Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal on social media.
Singhal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate last week in a money laundering case.
Justice Bharti Dangre rejected Das’ transit anticipatory bail plea and directed him to “approach the appropriate forum for relief.”
During the hearing, justice Dangre said that Ahmedabad, where the FIR against Das was registered, was not too far from Mumbai. Hence, Das should approach the concerned court in Ahmedabad for protection from arrest or any other relief pertaining to the case.
Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch had filed an FIR against Das, 46, after the filmmaker shared the said photo on social media site May 8 with a caption alleging that it was taken before the IAS officer's arrest. The picture was that of Shah and Singhal at a public event five years ago.
According to the Ahmedabad police, the Das tweeted the picture to mislead people and defame the union home minister's reputation.
Das has also been charged in the same FIR for allegedly insulting the national flag by posting on March 17 a morphed picture of a woman wearing a tricolour.
On May 11 The ED arrested Jharkhand mining secretary Singhal in an alleged case of money laundering involving suspected MGNREGA funds diversion during her time as deputy commissioner in the state's Khunti district in 2009-10.
