Mumbai: A Bandra Magistrate court on Friday granted bail to actor Ajaz Khan who had been arrested on April 18 over an FB video, which allegedly promoted enmity between communities.
Khan was released on a provisional cash bail of Rs. 1 lakh for a month or till the lockdown is over, whichever is earlier. Metropolitan Magistrate SN Shinde also directed the 37-year-old to delete the video in question and not upload any video using wrong or objectionable language. The actor is also supposed to visit the police station every 15 days till the chargesheet is filed in the case.
The Khar police which has registered the offence against him, did not seek further custody of Khan on Friday when he was produced in court.
The former Bigg Boss contestant’s advocate Nazneen Khatri had then moved the court seeking bail for him. She argued that the ingredients of the offence of creating disharmony among religions is not applicable in the matter and that it is necessary to look at the entire video and not specific parts of it. Khatri further argued that Facebook would have removed the video if it was objectionable, which it didn't.
Khan was arrested after an advocate complained on the objectionable video. The actor was booked for promoting enmity between different groups and printing or engraving defamatory matter among other sections of the IPC.
In the Facebook post in question, Khan is seen criticizing the bias media coverage of the Tablighi Jamaat incident as compared to other factors that led to spread of the Coronavirus.
