Gauhati High Court: Ajit Borthakur, J. dismissed an application to release the accused-applicant herein on bail in connection with a police case pertaining to uploading of objectionable posts on facebook.
The applicant, Tajul Islam was accused of uploading objectionable posts in support of Pakistan Army from his facebook account. An FIR was filed against him on 02-04-2019 and was sent to custody under Sections 121, 124-A and 505(1)(b) IPC read with Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Counsel for the applicant, S. Huda, submitted that the objectionable post in question was uploaded by one Ukil Uddin from the phone of the accused when he had left it unattended in charging mode at his pharmacy. The accused’s wife had accordingly filed an FIR against Ukil Uddin on 02-04-2019.
The Court scrutinized the case diary and observed that the accused had uploaded his profile photo in his Facebook account with a message “I stand with Pakistan Army”, through his mobile phone. None of the witnesses, whose statements were recorded, implicated Ukil Uddin as the author of the said seditious facebook post.
The Court held that the alleged offences were of very serious nature and if proved would be punishable by life imprisonment and fine. In view thereof, the Court dismissed the bail application and asked the investigating officer to expedite investigation in the case.[Tajul Islam v. State of Assam, Bail Application 957 of 2019, decided on 03-05-2019]