E-Paper
SAD’s Bunty Romana gets bail in morphed video case
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Parambans Singh Bunty Romana was booked 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
Ten days after Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) general secretary Parambans Singh Bunty Romana was arrested by the Mohali police for allegedly sharing a ‘morphed’ video clip of Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal purportedly making objectionable remarks against Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, a local court on Saturday granted him regular bail.
Romana was earlier sent to 14 days judicial custody in Ropar Jail by the court on October 26. Romana was arrested after Grewal denied singing any such song, claiming that the videos from his 2014 stage show held in Wolverhampton, UK, had been doctored.
Romana was booked 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 SAD leader was booked following a complaint by inspector Sandeep Singh, in-charge, cybercrime, Mohali. “The morphed video has been uploaded on X (formerly known as twitter), by this account handler for harming the reputation of the Punjab CM and to gain political mileage,” inspector Singh alleged as per the FIR.
Romana had termed his arrest as a political vendetta. However, the defence counsels, including DS Sobti and HS Dhanoa, contended that the video has been available on social media platforms since 2014.
After the video was shared on the social media platform, Grewal released a video message alleging that somebody altered the audio of one of his stage performances to show him making derogatory remarks against the chief minister. The singer claimed the voice heard in the video clip was not his and it was doctored.
