[Facebook post targeting Sharad Pawar] Actor Ketaki Chitale moves Bombay High Court seeking quashing of FIR

Marathi Actor Ketaki Chitale, booked for allegedly reproducing a derogatory poem against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Facebook, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking quashing of the First Information Report (FIR) registered against her at the Kalwa Police Station in Mumbai..The actor submitted that the enthusiasm shown by the Police in registering FIRs against her proved that she was being targeted with an object of striking fear in the minds of the people. "An invisible hand is targeting the petitioner and there is a concerted effort to strike fear in minds of people of Maharashtra in general and the petitioner in particular so as to deter everyone against coming out with any expressions of views that would offend some 'Pawar'," the plea said. The 29-year-old actor had posted on her Facebook profile a Marathi poem attributed to another person. The poem mentioned the surname (Pawar), age (80) and physical ailments which the NCP leader is also suffering from.Chitale was arrested on grounds that she made disparaging remarks about Pawar’s illness, appearance and voice and also called him corrupt.She was detained by the police on May 14 before she was declared arrested. She was booked by the Thane crime branch police under sections 500 (defamation), 501 (printing or engraving defamatory matter) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) of the Indian Penal Code.She was then produced before a holiday Magistrate court who remanded the actor to police custody till May 18 before being remanded to judicial custody. The petition contended that the FIR registered at Kalwa Police Station was an abuse of the process of law.It, therefore, prayed for quashing of the FIR and requested the court to direct her arrest as illegal and violative of her fundamental rights. She also prayed that she be compensated for unlawful arrest.Further, the petitioner requested the Court to pass directions to the Director General of Police (DGP) to issue guidelines to all police stations across Maharashtra to exercise caution while entertaining complaints on the basis of the same poem. Chitale also sought directions to be issued to the DGP to call for reports with regard to the FIRs registered across the State with regard to the same Facebook post and transfer the same to the Kalwa Police Station.