Orissa High Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Posting Whatsapp Message Urging People To Assault Former CJI For Refusing Rath Yatra Permission

The Orissa High Court granted bail to a man accused of posting a message in a WhatsApp group urging people to join him on a mission to assault the former Chief Justice of India with shoes for refusing permission to observe Rath Yatra.

Mukesh Jain, who is said to be the National Chairman of Dharma Rakshyak Shri Dara Sena, had allegedly portrayed the  Chief Justice of India as a Naxalite and Christian terrorist and accused him for halting the Rath Yatra. Following this, he was charged under offences punishable under Sections 153/153-A/153-B/295-A/504/505/506 of the Indian Penal Code read with Section 66(F) of the Information Technology Act.

Before the High Court, Jain submitted that different cases at different Police Stations of the country have been registered for the aforementioned WhatsApp message and that he got bail in two cases registered against him. The state opposed the plea and submitted that all of the offences registered against the accused are serious in nature having a grave impact on the society.

Taking note of this fact (bail in two other cases) and also the length of detention of the accused, Justice SK Panigrahi granted him bail by imposing certain conditions.

On June 18th, last year, the Supreme Court bench headed by the then CJI SA Bobde had ordered that no Rath Yatra should be held, keeping in mind the pandemic situation. Later, the Court modified the order and granted permission to conduct the Rath Yatra at Puri, observing the strict restrictions and regulations of the Centre and the State Government. Earlier this week, the Court dismissed a batch of petitions seeking permission to hold Rath Yatras in other temples in the State of Odisha at par with with Rath Yatra at the iconic Puri Jagannath Temple. It held that given the country is only recovering from second wave of Covid-19, the Odisha Government has taken a considered decision.

Case: Mukesh Jain vs. State of Odisha [BLAPL 3740 of 2021]

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