Ahmedabad: A local court denied a pre-arrest bail on Wednesday to a non-resident Indian (NRI) facing a case of allegedly posting a lewd message on Facebook about Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel's granddaughter. Sessions Court Judge SJ Raje rejected the application of the accused Roshan Shah since the offence is bailable and because anticipatory bail cannot be sought under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
As per Section 438 of the CrPC, bail can be sought before the High Court or the sessions court for non-bailable offences only. Meanwhile, the cybercell of the city crime branch has filed a First Information Report (FIR) against Shah under the Information Technology Act and Section 354 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (sexual harassment), on the basis of a complaint filed by one Akshay Patel.
Public prosecutor Sudhir Brahambhatt, who appeared for the Crime Branch, said that the offence is bailable (where bail is mandatory), and hence there was no need to grant anticipatory bail. However, Shah had contented that he is innocent and was framed by the police, since he had earlier tried to file an FIR against Gujarat Chief Minister Patel for alleged misappropriation at Ranip police station here, which the police had declined to register.
When he raised the issue on Facebook, some other person posted a comment with a photograph of Patel's granddaughter, Shah said.
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