Gauhati High Court Grants Bail To Man Accused Of Creating 'Communal Atmosphere' Through FB Post On 'Assam Agitation'

The Gauhati High Court recently granted bail to a man, Abu Bakkar Siddique, booked for making a Facebook post that allegedly indicated that the leaders of the 1979 Assam agitation came to power of the State after killing thousands of people. 

Taking into account the length of detention (47 days), the Bench of Justice Hitesh Kumar Sarma was of the view that further custodial detention of the petitioner was not necessary and, hence, he was granted bail.

The allegation against him as per the FIR is that he used fake Facebook accounts to send messages, which had an oblique reference to the then Assam Agitation of 1979 onwards, with a view to creating a communal atmosphere in the State of Assam.

Allegedly, the said Facebook post indicated that the leaders of the Assam agitation came to power of the State after killing thousands of people.

For the said offense of sending the afore-mentioned message, he had been booked u/s 120(B)/153A(1) (a)/153B(1)(a) & (c)/298/ 505 (1)(b)(c)/505(2) of the Indian Penal Code, r/w Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, r/w Section 66(f) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

On October 6, he was granted bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs.20,000/- with two suitable sureties of the like amount, to the satisfaction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup, Amingaon.

Further, he has been directed to not leave the territorial jurisdiction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kamrup, Amingaon, without prior written permission from him.

It may be noted that the Assam Agitation [also called the Assam Movement (1979-1985)] was a popular uprising/movement aimed at driving out the illegal immigrants (belonging to Bangladesh) from the Indian territory. The movement was led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) and the 'All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad' (AAGSP).

Importantly, the movement had ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in the year 1985.

Case title - Abu Bakkar Siddique v. The State of Assam

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