E-Paper
Morphed video FIR against Romana: FIR appears to be actuated by political vendetta, says trial court
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Parambans Singh ‘Bunty’ Romana was arrested by the Punjab police on October 26, a day after Mataur police in Mohali registered a criminal case against him under sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for harming reputation), 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and 43(I) read with 66 IT Act at the Mataur police station
Granting regular bail to Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Parambans Singh ‘Bunty’ Romana, the trial court has said that the ‘morphed’ video clip case appears to be a result of “political vendetta”.
Romana was arrested by the Punjab police on October 26, a day after Mataur police in Mohali registered a criminal case against him under sections 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for harming reputation), 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and 43(I) read with 66 IT Act at the Mataur police station. The FIR was registered on a complaint by inspector Sandeep Singh, in-charge, cybercrime, Mohali, against Romana for allegedly sharing a morphed video on X (formerly known as Twitter) of Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal purportedly making objectionable remarks against Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann. He was granted bail on Saturday (November 4). The detailed order of the court was made available on Monday.
“…the guilt of applicant/accused is yet to be established after conclusion of evidence on merits. Further conclusion of the trial would take consideration time as such no useful purpose would be served by keeping the applicant behind the bars. As, the present case seems to be actuated by political vendetta and no prejudice is likely to be caused to the prosecution if the bail is granted,” the court of additional chief judicial magistrate,” Harpreet Kaur observed.
Court questions inclusion of section 468 in FIR
The court also questioned the inclusion of section 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) of the IPC, which was the only non-bailable offence in the case.
The court said that firstly, the prosecution must prove the essential prerequisites of section 415 (cheating) and thereafter, the additional ingredients mentioned in Section 468 of IPC. “The basic ingredients of offence of cheating are missing in this case. The singer Kanwar Grewal whose video is alleged to have been morphed is nowhere in the picture and admittedly he has not joined the investigation…. I don’t agree with the contention raised by the learned APP (additional public prosecutor) for the state as ingredients of section 468 IPC are not fulfilled in the present case,” the court said to the argument of the state that Romana had passed the objectionable remarks in the morphed video against the Punjab CM, which is affecting the reputation of the government of Punjab.
