Patna High Court Grants Bail To A Hindu Organisation Chief Accused Of Supporting Nupur Sharma's 'Prophet Remark'
The Patna High Court recently granted bail to the chief of 'Hindu Putra Sangathan', Rajeev Kumar Brahmarshi accused of supporting comments made by former Spokesperson of the BJP, Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad. The bench of Justice Shailendra Singh granted bail to Brahmarshi in view of the fact that the investigation is over and most of the important witnesses which are to...
The Patna High Court recently granted bail to the chief of 'Hindu Putra Sangathan', Rajeev Kumar Brahmarshi accused of supporting comments made by former Spokesperson of the BJP, Nupur Sharma against Prophet Muhammad.
The bench of Justice Shailendra Singh granted bail to Brahmarshi in view of the fact that the investigation is over and most of the important witnesses which are to be examined are police officials.
Importantly the Court also observed that as per the FIR, only an apprehension of disturbance of communal harmony due to the post had been alleged, however, the Court added, it does not appear that anybody turned up before the police being hurt with the objectionable video of the petitioner.
Therefore, taking a 'lenient approach' in the matter, the Court ordered that the petitioner be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs.10,000/- with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the concerned Court.
The case in brief
The prosecution alleged that Brahmarshi had uploaded an objectionable video supporting Nupur Sharma's remark and against the Muslim religion on Facebook which hurt the sentiments of the community.
He was booked under Sections 295A [Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs] and 153A [Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony] of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 [Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form] of the I.T. Act
In his defense, the counsel appearing for him argued that the matter against him was lodged in a haste manner by the police officer himself on the same date and time when the alleged incident came to the knowledge of the police officials.
It was also submitted that since the petitioner is contesting the ongoing election of Nagar Nigam, Vaishali, therefore, several political parties have a political rivalry with him, owing to which he is being framed in criminal cases.
Case title - Rajeev Kumar Brahmarshi vs The State Of Bihar
Case Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Pat) 39