A Pune court rejected the anticipatory bail pleas of two persons in connection with an allegedly objectionable social media post against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' wife, Amruta Fadnavis.
The court, however, granted bail to four others in the case, which was registered by Pune cyber police in April on the complaint of advocate Basavraj Yadvad.
Seven persons, identified as Nikhil Sankpal, Datta Chaudhari, Baliram Pandit, Ashish Wankhede, Shailesh Varma, Bhumish Save and Abhijit Phadnis, were named in the cases and all were issued notices to join the investigation.
Only Sankpal responded to the notice, while Chaudhari, Pandit, Wankhede and Varma were subsequently arrested. Save and Phadnis remained absconding.
Sankpal was the one who uploaded the post, which was viewed by over 16,000 people, liked by 895, and retweeted by 187, including the remaining six accused named in the complaint, as per police.
Chaudhari, Pandit, Wankhede and Varma sought bail before Additional Sessions Judge A.S. Gandhi, while absconding accused Save and Phadnis moved anticipatory bail pleas.
"The four arrested accused were granted bail. The anticipatory bail pleas of Save and Phadnis were rejected. While opposing the bail pleas, we argued that character is an ornament for any woman, and since the post was derogatory, bail should not be granted," Public Prosecutor Rajesh Kavediya said.
Advocate SK Jain, representing Amruta Fadnavis, also opposed the bail pleas.
In its order, the court observed the accused had posted or retweeted derogatory content intended to defame and outrage the modesty of a woman.
"The accused did not verify the truthfulness of the content before retweeting. Despite being served notices by the police, they failed to cooperate with the investigation. Hence, they are not entitled to anticipatory bail," the judge noted.
The prosecution also told the court Save, after retweeting the derogatory post, had uploaded another post claiming he would provide legal assistance to the persons against whom such cases are registered.
"This tweet was posted after registration of the FIR. This shows the accused intentionally posted such derogative matters on social media against the minister and his wife. Such conduct of the accused is not justifiable," the order stated.
