The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday refused to grant anticipatory bail to a college teacher accused of putting an objectionable and obscene Facebook post regarding Union Textile and Women and Child Development Minsiter Smriti Zubin Irani.
A single-judge bench of Justice J. J. Munir passed this order while hearing a Criminal Misc. Anticipatory bail Application U/S 438 filed by Dr Shaharyar Ali in connection with the case under Section 505(2) IPC and Section 67A IT Act, Police Station Ramgarh, District Firozabad.
The applicant’s counsel submitted that he has been falsely implicated in the crime, at the instance of the informant, who is a Zila Mantri of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on account of animosity. It is urged that the applicant is a professor in a degree college and head of the History Department.
In this Application, it is argued that the objectionable and obscene post regarding Irani has been done by hacking his Facebook ID, regarding which, he has expressed his apologies and has also disowned the post. It is argued that the applicant is a respectable man with no criminal history and is, therefore, entitled to be enlarged on anticipatory bail, in the event of arrest.
Shashi Shekhar Tiwari, the AGA, vehemently opposed the prayer for bail. He submitted that the post carries an obscene comment about a Minister in the Central Government and a senior leader of a political party, which is a statement made and circulated on the social media containing a rumour likely to promote hatred or illwill between different religious groups, an act punishable under Section 505(2) IPC.
The applicant, being a responsible and a senior teacher in a college and a Head of Department, ought to have been cautious in writing a comment of the kind under consideration. It is submitted by the A.G.A. that the applicant is not entitled to anticipatory bail, considering his conduct.
The Court has considered the rival submissions. The question whether the applicant did actually post the offending and obscene post regarding the Minister is to be prima facie accepted at this stage, as there is no material to show that the applicant’s account was, in fact, hacked. Rather, the applicant has posted his apology on that account, which shows that the account is prima facie still being operated by him.
The Court said it is also apparent that this post was shared by co-accused in the crime, one Huma Naqvi, and the contents of the post are indeed such which may in fact, promote or in all likelihood of promoting ill-will or hatred between different communities.
The Court noted that,
In the prima facie opinion of the Court, looking to the fact that the applicant is a senior teacher in a college and a Head of Department, conduct of this kind prima facie does not entitle him to the indulgence of anticipatory bail. It is, however, not to say that this is an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.
“The applicant is entitled to surrender and seek regular bail, which shall be considered in accordance with law. In the entirety of the circumstances, the Court does not find it to be a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. The application for anticipatory bail is hereby rejected,” the Court observed.
In case, however, the applicant surrenders before the court concerned, his bail application shall be considered expeditiously and in accordance with law, the Court said.