Madhya Pradesh High Court: S.A. Dharmadhikari, J. granted bail under Section 439 CrPC, where the applicant was charged for ‘Deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion’ under Section 295-A Penal Code, 1860.
The applicant was arrested on the allegations that he uploaded filthy language on social media, specifically facebook in the name of God. It was argued by the counsel for the applicant, R.K. Dubey that such was a false and frivolous case registered against the applicant. Further, it was submitted that the applicant was very young, just about 22 years old and had been in custody for a long time. The counsel stated that the investigation was pending and the charge sheet was not filed yet. But the long period of detention in the custody may spoil the career of the applicant as the trial may take some time. The counsel assured the Court that there was no possibility that the applicant will abscond or will tamper any material evidence if he was released on bail.
On the contrary, the public prosecutor, Sanjeev Mishra, opposed the bail application that such was a serious offence and could have caused a ruckus in the society and had outraged the religious feeling of the public at large.
The Court revalued the arguments of both the parties and deemed it to be a fit case for bail. Bail was granted by the Court subject to conditions.[Fezal Khan v. State of M.P., 2019 SCC OnLine MP 1461, decided on 05-07-2019]
