Court grants bail to man accused of maligning PM Modi's reputation

New Delhi [India], June 19 : Delhi's Patiala House Court on Wednesday granted bail to accused Arun Kumar Bereddy arrested for allegedly posting fake and morphed photos and spreading misleading information to malign the reputation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The court said that the arrest of the accused has been found illegal for not giving proper notice before his arrest.
Metropolitan Magistrate Akanksha Garg granted bail to Arun Kumar Bereddy on a personal bond of Rs 50,000. The court has also imposed conditions while granting the bail.
The court rejected the application of the Special Cell of Delhi police seeking three days of remand. The court noted that though a notice was given to the accused but sufficient time was not granted to him before arrest on June 18.
The court noted that the notice was served at 8:30 pm. The Magistrate said, "I have perused the notice under section 41A CrPC given by the IO, as per which the accused was required to appear before the IO at 09:30 PM on the same day that is 18.06.2024. Thus, notice u/s 41A CrPC was a merely formality and has not been complied in letter and spirit."
The court said that the accused must have been given the sufficient time to join the investigation, however, he was arrested by the IO at 10:30 pm.
This is not a case where the accused has failed to join the investigation, the court said.
"Hence, I hereby dismiss the application seeking PC remand of the accused. Arrest of the accused is found to be illegal as no proper notice u/s 41A CrPC has been served," the court said in the order passed on June 19.
The accused was produced before the court after his arrest on June 18. He has been arrested for allegedly posting fake, morphed and misleading information and photos intending to malign the reputation of Prime Minister Modi and impacting the morale of women deployed in Armed/Central Forces and friendly relations with other countries.
The court noted that the offences in question under Section 294, 469, 499, 500 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Income Tax Act are bailable in nature. The court said that the only non-bailable offence invoked by the IO is Section 505 (1) (b) of the Indian Penal Code, however, in view of the fact that the mobile phone of the accused has already been seized and the password has been provided, no further custodial interrogation is warranted.
Earlier in May, the Patiala House Court of Delhi granted bail to accused Arun Reddy who allegedly handled the 'Spirit of Congress' X account, in the Union Home Minister Amit Shah's deepfake morphed video' case on furnishing of bail bonds in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- with one surety in the like amount.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Nabila Wali observed that the prime allegation against the applicant or accused on the basis of which he was arrested is being the 'Admin' of the Whats App group on which the alleged fake video was first posted for circulation. However, there are no allegations of the applicant/ accused having posted or circulated the said video on any forum.