Madhya Pradesh High Court Grants Bail To Accused In FIR Against Facebook Post On 'Burning Manusmriti'

The accused was arrested in a case registered under Sections 153-A, 295A, 505(2) IPC. He was in judicial custody since December 24, 2022.

As per the prosecution story, he had uploaded two posts on Facebook which the complainant, the Sakal Brahmin Samaj, found to be objectionable. In one of the posts, he said: “As who is the husband and father of the Bharat Mata”. The second post was related to organizing an event for burning the manusmriti. 

Arguing for his bail, his counsel submitted that in the first post, he was merely expressing his opinion and questioning the genesis of the concept of Bharat Mata.

With respect to the second post regarding burning of manusmriti, it was asserted that it was not the first time "it has been done in the country". However, it was clarified before the court that no such function was ever organised pursuant to the post.

Opposing the application, the State argued that the accused has a "criminal record of 13 cases."

Without commenting on the merits of the case, Justice Atul Sreedharan granted bail to the applicant.