Aishwarya Rathore-

Published On: September 27, 2021 at 17:58 IST

The Bombay High Court granted Bail to a man accused of posting “disrespectful” content on Facebook against Dr. BR Ambedkar.

The Bench of Justice Sandeep K Shinde was hearing a plea from one Abdul Rahim Abdul Gani Ghadiyali who had allegedly posted disrespectful content against Ambedkar through his Facebook account.

While disowning the Facebook account and post, Ghadiyali claimed that as an RTI activist and whistleblower, he had been falsely implicated. He further added that an unknown person had created a Facebook account in his name and was posting through it.

In light of this, the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) informed the Court that a Report on the IP address and other such details was expected to be received within a month, and thus he did not object to the grant of protection in favour of the Accused.

APP further stated, Without a Report to ascertain whether the account is fake or not, it would not be appropriate to deny protection to Ghaidyali.”

Accused Ghadiyali was booked by the Thane Police under provisions of the Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act along with Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code and offences under the Information Technology Act.

The Court, therefore, granted Interim Relief from Arrest to the accused in return for executing a bond of Rs. 20,000, while issuing Notice on the Complainant.

The Court further directed the Investigation Officer to take steps to block the concerned Facebook account to prevent further circulation of the post.

Click here to Read/ Download the Order

Also Read: CJI Ramana expresses distress over Fake News across Social Media Networks

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