Shivani Thakur
Published on: June 7, 2022, at 17:05 IST
Ketaki Chitale, a Marathi actor, has moved to the Bombay High Court to have the FIR filed against her at the Kalwa Police Station in Mumbai quashed. She was arrested for allegedly posting a ‘derogatory poem’ about NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Facebook.
The plea said:
“An invisible hand is targeting the petitioner and there is a concerted effort to strike fear in minds of people of Maharashtra in general and the petitioner in particular so as to deter everyone against coming out with any expressions of views that would offend some ‘Pawar’.”
She had shared a Marathi poetry attributed to someone else on her Facebook page. The poem mentioned Pawar’s surname, age (80), and medical infirmities, all of which the NCP leader suffers from.
Chitale was charged with making derogatory remarks regarding Pawar’s condition, appearance, and voice, as well as calling him corrupt.
She was booked under Section 150, 151, 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code.
As a result, it urged that the FIR be quashed and that the court order her arrest as unconstitutional and a violation of her fundamental rights.
She also wished to be paid for her wrongful arrest.
Chitale further requested that the Courts to pass directions to DGP to issue guidelines to ask for reports on the FIRs filed across the State in relation to the same Facebook post and transfer them to the Kalwa Police Station.