Ranchi Court drops bail condition to distribute copies of Quran [Read Modification Order]

Days after a directing a woman to distribute copies of the Quran as a condition for bail following her arrest over a Facebook post allegedly hurting religious sentiments, the Ranchi Court has modified its order to drop this bail-condition.

An order passed by the Judicial Magistrate today states,

“The IO has prayed that the condition of donating Holy Kuran by the petitioner ay be done away with because of difficulties in its implementation…. 

The State has prayed for modification of said bail order and modifying the condition to that extent. Having gone through the petitioner and heard submissions of ld. APP the order was passed by this Court on 15/07/2019 allowing regular bail to the petitioner Richa Bharti, in view of the aforesaid submissions of ld. APP, this Court modifies its earlier order by dropping the additional condition of distribution of copies of Holy Kuran by the petitioner. According, order dated 15/07/2019 is modified up to this extent. The remaining order shall remain the same.“

On July 12, Richa Bharti was reportedly pulled up for a Facebook post on Tabrez Ansari, a Muslim youth who succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by a mob in Jharkhand last month. After the Sadar Anjuman Committee at Pithauriya near Ranchi filed a police complaint against Bharti, she was arrested for hurting religious sentiments.

She was subsequently granted bail by a Ranchi court. However, Judicial Magistrate Manish Singh ordered her to give a copy of the Quran to complainant Mansur Khalifa, a member of the Sadar Anjuman Committee. She was also directed to distribute five other copies of the Quran to schools and colleges.

As another condition for bail, Bharti was asked to deposit two sureties of Rs.7,000 each.

The FIR filed after Khalifa’s complaint states that Richa Bharti’s posts on Facebook and WhatsApp were directed against a particular religion that could have disturbed the communal harmony of the society.

[Read the Modification Order]