The Maharashtra government was chastised by the Bombay High Court on Monday for detaining 21-year-old student Nikhil Bhamre after he tweeted against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar.
Justices SS Shinde and Milind Jadhav questioned how the tweet could have led to a flurry of first information reports (FIRs) against Bhamre.

“There are hundreds and thousands of tweets every day. Will you take cognizance of each and every tweet? We do not want FIRs like these. …Unheard of… some student is kept in custody like this,” the bench stated.

After reading the tweets that led to the FIRs, the Court voiced its unhappiness with the authorities. Justice Shinde stated. “No one is mentioned on page 48 (which includes Bhamre’s key tweet) and to imprison someone for a month.” How is this the foundation for everything? “What prompted the FIR, as stated on page 48?”.

The court was hearing a writ petition filed by Bhamre seeking the quashing of the FIRs filed against him after he reportedly sent tweets aimed at the veteran politician leader from his account.

Several FIRs have been filed against Bhamre for offenses under the Indian Penal Code’s Sections 153, 153A (promoting enmity between communities), 500, 501 (defamation), 504 (criminal intimidation), 505, 506 (statements contributing to public mischief) (IPC).

Booking the accused in the current case, according to Justice Shinde, could be more damaging to Pawar’s character, who was the target of the tweets.

You end up hurting the name of the person who earned the second-highest civilian award if you start acting like this (Pawar). Even the most powerful person (Pawar) will object to such a student being imprisoned. The judge stated, “We do not want the reputation of the towering individuals to be tarnished.”

Before adjourning the session, Justice Shinde asked the public prosecutor to follow the State Home Department’s orders and file a statement of no objection to Bhamre’s release.

In conclusion, the Bench stated, “In our humble judgment, the state’s grace will be saved if you come and make this remark.

 

 

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