A court in Maharashtra’s Thane, on Wednesday 22nd June 2022, granted bail to Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale more than a month after she was arrested for uploading an allegedly offensive remark against NCP leader Sharad Pawar on social media. She was given bail by district judge H M Patwardhan on a Rs 20,000 bond. This will allow Chitale to leave the Thane central jail, where she is now being held, her lawyer said.
Additional sessions judge HM Patwardhan was hearing the bail plea, and the crime branch had filed a reply strongly objecting the bail plea. But the prosecution changed its position and later they filed an additional replying stating that they have no objection if Chitale is granted by bail. Following this, the court allowed the bail plea.
While the detailed judgement is not published yet, the judge slammed the police for not following proper procedure while arresting Ketaki Chitale. During the hearing, Chitale’s lawyer had said that a pre-arrest notice under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure was not issued to her. The prosecution disagreed, said that the required notice was actually served. But the defence lawyer pointed out that the notice was issued just minutes before her arrest. The judge was not happy with this revelation and pulled up the police for violating norms.
The judge even said that at action should be initiated against the investigating officer for not following rules. However, the public prosecutor apologised on behalf of the police for this error.
Ketaki Chitale was detained by Thane police on May 15, 2022, after she shared Marathi poetry on Facebook that was purportedly disparaging to NCP leader Sharad Pawar. For her post on Pawar, police in Kalwa, Thane, had filed FIRs against her, charging many sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The cases were filed under sections 505 (2) (public mischief statements), 500 (defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory), and 153A. (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc). Swapnil Netke, the complainant, said in his complaint that the post was likely to cause conflict between political parties.
Yogesh Deshpande, who stood in court on Ketaki Chitale’s behalf, stated that she would now be freed from jail after the judge granted her bail. The 29-year-old actress is presently facing more than 20 FIRs in connection with the Facebook post.
Ketaki Chitale was granted bail last week in another case filed against her in 2020 under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Navi Mumbai.
Ketaki Chitale was arrested on May 15 for a Facebook post where she had shared a verse, allegedly written on Pawar, calling him a person who hates Brahmins. The cases have been filed in multiple police stations in Mumbai and its suburbs.
