Supreme Court grants bail to man accused of putting abusive Facebook post against PM Narendra Modi

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to a man accused of putting up objectionable Facebook posts against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother [Afzalbhai Kasambhai Lakhani vs State of Gujarat]..A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and MM Sundresh directed the accused not to put up any such posts directly or anonymously in the future."We would deem it appropriate to provide an opportunity to the petitioner to participate in the trial effectively but however he should restrain himself from putting any such posts on social media in future either directly or in an anonymous manner. Hence, we make it a condition for grant of relief to the petitioner and direct that the petitioner be released on bail," the Supreme Court ordered..The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the accused, one Afzalbhai Kasambhai Lakhani, against a Gujarat High Court order that had denied him bail in the matter.The accused was booked on a complaint filed by one Devubhai Gadhavi on December 31, 2022 who took objection to posts on the Facebook Page "Gujarat Trast Bhajpa Mast".The complaint was filed at the Sikka Police Station in Jamnagar.The accused was slapped with offences of defamation, hate speech, hurting religious sentiments, obscenity and other provisions along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.Single-judge Justice Nirzar Desai of the High Court denied him bail, stating that while one is free to like or dislike the Prime Minister (PM), he or she should not use derogatory and abusive language against the PM.The High Court observed that the accused had put out pro-Pakistani and anti-Indian posts. Further, the language used against the PM was derogatory to such an extent that it was not possible for the court to reproduce of those posts in the order.This led to the appeal before the apex court.The top court at the outset noted that the petitioner had expressed regret for the posts..It, thus, granted bail to the accused subject to the condition that he would not post objectionable content in future..The Court also clarified that the Gujarat government may approach the apex court for cancellation of bail in case of any violation of bail conditions..Advocates Siddhant Sharma, Yadwinder Singh, Alok Kothari, and Kartavya Batra represented the accused.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta with advocates Swati Ghildiyal, Kanu Agarwal and Devyani Bhatt represented the Gujarat government..[Read order]