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A Mumbai court has denied anticipatory bail to a Pune resident accused of sharing an objectionable social media post on Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, observing there is a prima facie case against him that cannot be ignored.

Santosh Darekar, 54, was booked by the cyber police under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for promoting feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc, after a complaint was lodged by BJP leader Yojna Thokle.

His anticipatory bail plea was rejected by Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Kale on Saturday. The court, in the order made available on Monday, said the investigation is in progress and the only argument canvassed by the accused is that there is no requirement of his custodial interrogation.

The court underlined that custodial interrogation is one of the relevant aspects to be considered along with other grounds while deciding anticipatory bail. “There is a prima facie case against the accused and that cannot be ignored or overlooked,” the court held.

Darekar, in his plea, sought bail, claiming he had been falsely implicated in the case. The prosecution opposed his plea on the grounds that the accused has, prima facie, committed the alleged offence and his mobile phone (used for sharing the post) has to be seized.

After hearing both sides, the court held that the prosecution’s argument for rejection of Darekar’s pre-arrest bail was ‘apparently genuine”. “Having regard to the prima facie material against the accused, nature of offence and the severity of the punishment, no case is made out by the accused for grant of anticipatory bail,” the court ruled.

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