Andhra Pradesh High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Film Maker Ram Gopal Varma In Criminal Defamation Case

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to film maker Ram Gopal Varma in connection with a criminal defamation case lodged against him for his alleged defamatory and objectionable posts on X (formerly Twitter) about Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Justice Harinath N granted the relief to the film maker subject to him executing a personal bond of Rs. 20,000 with two sureties of equal amount and it asked him to cooperate with the police during the investigation.

It said:

"Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor and pursued the record as well as the case diary submitted by the learned public prosecutor. It is evident from the case diary also that the postings were made in the petitioner's Twitter account in the months of December 2023 and May 2024. The provision of law with respect to 336(2) would not be applicable insofar as the present facts and circumstances are concerned. So far as the applicability of other provisions of law and establishment of the crime, the police will be required to complete their investigation.Considering the same, it would be appropriate for the petitioner to cooperate with the investigation. The petitioner shall be released on bail in the event of arrest..."

Section 336 BNS pertains to offence of forgery.

Varma moved the plea apprehending arrest after a case was registered based on a complaint made in November by the General Secretary of Telugu Desam Party. The complainant alleged the petitioner to have made defamatory and objectionable posts on X which were contrary to the interests of his political party.

Varma in refuting these allegations contended that the posts were made way back in December 2023 and May this year during promotion of the film Vyooham. It was submitted that the same were a subject matter of a writ petition before the High Court as well as the subject of a suit filed before a civil court. He contended that the concerned writ was disposed off by the Telangana High Court in January this year.

Furthermore, it was submitted that writ appeals were preferred against the order and the Division Bench of the High Court had disposed off the writ appeal with a direction to the Chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification to reconstitute a committee to review the movie–Vyuham and duly communicate its decision in February. It was further submitted that the movie was subsequently released and the postings related to its promotion.

It was the petitioner's claim that the alleged objectionable posts would not be applicable to the present allegations as stated in the complaint.

The State, on the other hand, brought charges of public mischief, forgery, defamation among other offences under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and the charge of publishing obscene material under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act. Placing reliance on records of a case diary, it was alleged that the X account belonged to Varma and that he had been non-cooperative in the police investigation. Highlighting other criminal records of the petitioner, a prayer to dismiss the petition was made by the State.

Case Title: Ramgopal Varma vs. The State of Andhra Pradesh

Criminal Petition No. 8376 of 2024.

Advocate Rajagopallavan Tayi was the counsel for the petitioner.

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