BJP's Prashant Umrao Moves Delhi High Court For Transit Anticipatory Bail In FIR Over Tweet On Bihar Migrant Workers In Tamil Nadu

Lawyer and Uttar Pradesh spokesperson of BJP Prashant Kumar Umrao has moved the Delhi High Court seeking transit anticipatory bail in an FIR lodged against him by Tamil Nadu police for allegedly spreading false information in a tweet on the alleged attacks against the migrant workers from Bihar in the state.

Umrao, a Delhi based lawyer and Standing Counsel for the State of Goa in Supreme Court, has sought relief in an FIR registered under sections 153, 153A, 504 and 505 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The plea places reliance on a news article published by various news agencies stating that migrant labourers from Bihar are being killed in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi language. Fact-checking news website Alt News has reported that multiple unrelated videos are viral as attack on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu.

It is Umrao’s case that he posted a tweet on February 23 in good faith to address the plight of migrant workers. In his tweet, he claimed: “15 people of Bihar were hanged in a room in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi and 12 have sadly died. After that, Tejaswi Yadav shamelessly celebrated birthday party with Stalin in Tamil Nadu.” The police have booked Umrao for the tweet.

The plea itself submits that after the news was fact checked by certain agencies and it was revealed that the video clips shared on social media platforms pertained to a different time period and did not relate to any incident related to the violence upon migrant workers in Tamil Nadu.

It was also found out that the news regarding the Bihari migrant workers hanged to death for speaking Hindi was fake, the plea adds.

While Umrao deleted the tweet, it is his case that he is innocent, is merely being made a scapegoat and has not committed any intentional acts punishable under sections 153, 153A, 504, and 505 of IPC.

“The Applicant himself became a victim of fake news and only published the aforementioned tweet to raise concerns regarding the news which was being covered by prominent news agencies and personalities,” the plea adds.

It has been submitted that Umrao’s right to liberty would stand violated at the hands of State of Tamil Nadu if he is arrested without any reasonable opportunity to avail his legal remedies owing to his residence in Delhi.

“The Applicant is a victim of political rivalry as the Applicant is associated with a different political party,” the plea said.

The matter is likely to be heard tomorrow.

Title: PRASHANT KUMAR UMRAO v. STATE OF TAMIL NADU & ANR.