Allahabad High Court grants bail to Editor of Nation Live Channel in cheating and forgery case

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Editor of Nation Live, Anuj Shukla, in a case of forgery and fraud filed against him for allegedly running the news channel without authorization.

Shukla, who has been charged under Sections 419, 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code, submitted before the Court that he is merely an employee of the channel, which is allegedly running without an appropriate broadcast license. He is neither the proprietor nor the Director of the said channel, his counsel submitted.

It was also submitted that all the offences in this regard have been committed by the owner of Nation Live and that Shukla, like his co-accused who has already been enlarged on bail, has nothing to do with the same.

Despite opposition to the bail plea by counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Single Judge Bench of Justice Ajit Singh granted bail to Shukla while imposing certain conditions as regards his conduct. The Court stipulated the following conditions:

i) The applicant shall not tamper with the prosecution evidence.
ii) The applicant shall not threaten or harass the prosecution witnesses.
iii) The applicant shall appear on the date fixed by the trial court.
iv) The applicant shall not commit an offence similar to the offence of which the applicant is accused, or suspected of the commission.
v) The applicant shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade such person from disclosing facts to the Court or to any police officer or tamper with the evidence.

Shukla was also arrested in relation to a separate case of criminal defamation filed for broadcasting allegedly defamatory content against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. However, he had secured bail from a court in Greater Noida in that case last month.

Shukla was represented by Advocates Prashant Sharma and Narendra Singh Chahar.

Read the Order: