By Muslim Mirror Staff-reporter,
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 June, ordered journalist Prashant Kanojia should be released immediately on bail, expressing incredulity at the length of remand. The court said that though they do not appreciate the tweets, the judicial custody till 22 June was “not appropriate.”
A vacation bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi on Monday, 10 June, heard the plea. “Right to Liberty of a citizen has been infringed,” said Justice Banerjee, adding that one can’t take for granted that people believe everything on social media and there is no basis to believe a post will mislead people.
Regardless of the contents of the tweet, Justice Banerjee said the arrest was unwarranted. After the lawyer for UP cited Section 505 for Kanojia’s arrest, Justice Rastogi raised doubts on how the provision applied in this case.
Kanojia had allegedly shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the chief minister’s office claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to Adityanath.
An FIR was registered against Kanojia by a sub-inspector at the Hazratganj police station in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, 7 June, night in which it was alleged that the accused made “objectionable comments against the CM and tried to malign his image”.