Cartoonist sent to seven-day police custody for sedition

Even as cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was remanded in police custody on Sunday, lawyers alleged that the arrest was ridiculous and a curb on freedom of expression. HT reports.

Even as cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was remanded in police custody on Sunday, lawyers alleged that the arrest was ridiculous and a curb on freedom of expression.

Trivedi was arrested on Saturday for displaying allegedly insulting caricatures of Parliament, Constitution and the national emblem at Anna Hazare's protest last December and for posting them on a social networking site.

The Kanpur-based cartoonist, charged with sedition, is in the custody of the BKC police till September 16.

"His cartoons depicted Parliament as a commode and showed the national emblem with wolves instead of lions. The cartoons were aimed at creating unrest," said C Bhosale, senior inspector, BKC police station.

Criminal lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said: "If he has shown Parliament as a commode, he is depicting what it has been reduced to because of parliamentarians, and not what it is or ought to be. His arrest is absurd and a curb on freedom of expression."

After a lawyer, Amit Arvind Katarnavre, approached the police in January, they filed a complaint against Trivedi on January 30 under relevent sections of the Indian Penal Code, the National Emblem Act and the Information Technology Act.

Around 20 days ago, the BKC police dispatched teams to Lucknow and Kanpur to nab Trivedi. However, he was not found. The police, around a fortnight ago, learnt that he was in hiding in the Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.

Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who was arrested on charges of posting seditious contents on his website is seen outside a Mumbai court. PTI