Allahabad High Court rejects anticipatory bail of Professor accused of putting obscene post about Smriti Irani on Facebook

The Allahabad High Court, on Tuesday, rejected the anticipatory bail application filed by a professor, Dr. Shaharyar Ali for allegedly putting up objectionable and obscene post on Facebook about Union Minister Smriti Irani (Dr. Shaharyar Ali v. State of UP). .Single-judge Justice JJ Munir, while rejecting the plea, observed that the contents of the post may promote or has the likelihood to promote hatred between different communities."In the prima facie opinion of this Court, looking to the fact that the applicant is a senior teacher in a college and a Head of Department, conduct of this kind prima facie does not entitle him to the indulgence of anticipatory bail. In the entirety of the circumstances, this Court does not find it to be a fit case to grant anticipatory bail. The application for anticipatory bail is hereby rejected," the Court ordered. .The Court said that the Facebook post was also shared by the co-accused in the crime, one Huma Naqvi, and the contents of the post are indeed such which may in fact, "promote or in all likelihood (have the tendency) of promoting ill-will or hatred between different communities.".By way of background, a Zila Mantri of the Bharatiya Janata Party had filed a complaint against Ali for putting up the obscene post. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Ali for offences under Section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67A of the Information Technology Act, 200..The counsel for Ali submitted that the post was put up by someone else by hacking into his Facebook account. It was also informed that Ali had later expressed his apologies and also disowned the post.He also contended that he was falsely implicated in the crime at the instance of the informant, who is a Zila Mantri of the Bharatiya Janata Party, on account of animosity..On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Shashi Shekhar Tiwari opposed the application and said that the Facebook post carried an "obscene comment about an Honourable Minister in the Central Government and a senior leader of a political party."It was also contended that the said post was circulated on social media and it contained a rumour which had the potential to promote hatred between different religious groups, an act punishable under Section 505(2) of IPC..The court rejected the bail application stating "the question whether the applicant did actually post the offending and obscene post regarding the Minister is to be prima facie accepted at this stage, as there is no material to show that the applicant's account was, in fact, hacked."The Court said that the fact that Ali posted his apology on the same account indicated that the account was still being operated by him. For these reasons, the plea was rejected. The Court, however, clarified that it is not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case and Ali is entitled to surrender and seek regular bail..[Read Order]