E-Paper
Pune court denies bail to woman accused of using derogatory remark on Ambedkar
PUNE: A court in Pune has denied bail to a woman whose social media account has published posts making defamatory remarks about Babasaheb Ambedkar
PUNE: A court in Pune has denied bail to a woman whose social media account has published posts making defamatory remarks about Babasaheb Ambedkar. Identified as Vandana Santosh Bhosale (38), the woman was booked in a case for causing enmity between two groups and defamation registered at Loni Kalbhor police station.
The order was passed by Additional Sessions Judge BP Kshirsagar on September 1, with public prosecutor Premkumar Agarwal and advocate VM Patil as defense lawyer.
Vandana was arrested on August 23 and after spending two days in police custody, she was remanded to judicial custody where she remains. A complaint against her was lodged by Shashikant Gaikwad who has identified himself as a journalist in his complaint.
While the woman’s lawyer has claimed that it is a fake account in her name, the complainant in the case has stated that the woman had accepted that the posts were made from her account when he went to her house. The investigating officer has also submitted to the court that the posts are made from the woman’s account.
“The applicant either used the defamatory words or she propagated the said information maliciously, deliberately to harm his image, reputation and to insult the feelings of not only that particular community but of all persons who respect him for his work,” read one of the concluding remarks in the order.
The sections invoked in the case against the woman invite punishment up to 3 years upon conviction. Due to overcrowding in jail and Covid situation, the courts encourage bail to people booked in cases that invite less than 7 years punishment upon conviction. “Her remarks are so hurtful that the court has decided to not grant bail. The court has recorded statements of the people who went to her house to talk to her about the posts. They have all said that she agreed to have posted those words and asked them to do whatever they wanted to do,” said Agarwal.
The legal representative of the woman, advocate VM Patil, submitted in the court that the woman had lodged a complaint with the cyber cell about a fake profile being created.
“The applicant herself lodged the complaint dated August 12 to the cyber cell informing that her fake account is opened on Facebook to publish such defamatory posts. Thereafter, certain organisation had been to the house of applicant, the members of those organisations abused the applicant, threatened her and therefore, she called the police. The informant is the press reporter, he lodged false FIR. The alleged posts are written by someone else. The applicant herself raised these issues at initial stage on August 13,” reads the submission made by Bhosale’s legal counsel.
The woman is in judicial custody till September 6 and the case will be heard next on the last day of her custody.
A case under Sections 153(a), 295(a), 500 of Indian Penal Code was registered against the woman at Loni Kalbhor police station. Police sub-inspector Amruta Kate is investigating the case.
