A Thane court on Wednesday ordered Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale to judicial custody after she was arrested for allegedly posting derogatory comments about NCP chief Sharad Pawar on social media. Ghanshyam Upadhyay, her lawyer, later submitted a bail petition, stating that the actor’s arrest was ‘political.’
Since last week, Ketaki Chitale has been in police detention. According to her bail application, the Thane Crime Branch made serious errors by arresting Chitale based on her words, citing Indian Penal Code Sections 505(2) (Statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill-will between classes) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to harmony) (IPC).
According to the bail plea, the complainant in the case lacks locus standi to file a FIR because Chitale’s social media posts were about a ‘Pawar,’ not the complainant. No one named ‘Pawar’ had filed a complaint, said the plea. Ghanshyam Upadhyay said ‘At the maximum, a case of defamation could have been filed but this kind of arrest was only political.’
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