New Delhi, Sep 24 The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to grant anticipatory bail to YouTuber Ajeet Bharti in a case over alleged casteist remarks against Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad, holding that the plea was not maintainable.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee dismissed Bharti’s pre-arrest bail plea, saying a case under the provisions of the SC/ST Act was prima facie made out against him and there was a statutory bar on granting anticipatory bail under the law.
“In view of the fact that a case under the provisions of the SC/ST Act is prima facie made out against the applicant and considering the statutory bar (on grant of bail) under the SC/ST Act, the present petition seeking grant of anticipatory bail is dismissed being not maintainable,” the judge said while pronouncing the verdict.
The detailed order is awaited.
The court had on September 16 reserved its order on the plea after hearing submissions from Bharti’s counsel, the Delhi Police and complainant Azad.
Bharti had approached the high court after a trial court here refused to grant him pre-arrest bail in the case on September 7. The plea was opposed by the Delhi Police and the complainant.
The police counsel had contended that the words allegedly used by Bharti directly insulted a particular caste, while Azad’s lawyer opposed the anticipatory bail plea, saying the purported remarks were derogatory and intentional.
Bharti’s counsel, however, argued that the SC/ST Act was not attracted as there was no intentional insult or humiliation and the YouTuber’s remarks should be viewed in the context in which they were made.
The prosecutor contended that the words were allegedly used by Bharti on a social media platform, and not in closed walls. She argued that the ingredients to attract the SC/ST Act were present and the anticipatory bail plea was not maintainable.
Bharti’s counsel said the remarks concerning Azad were made in the context of an exchange on social media and that the YouTuber had not intended to target the Lok Sabha MP because of his caste.
He also said Bharti had not used any casteist slur and had responded to a grave provocation against a family member.
Azad, the Bhim Army chief, in a complaint to the Delhi Police, alleged that Bharti made caste-based, abusive, derogatory and humiliating statements against him, the members of the Scheduled Caste community and B R Ambedkar on social media.
The FIR was registered under provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The trial court, while denying anticipatory bail, had said the ingredients of the offence under the SC/ST Act were prima facie disclosed in the material before it, which bars granting pre-arrest bail to an accused.
(PTI News)
