Patna High Court grants bail to student who shared objectionable Facebook post on Hindu God, Goddess

The Patna High Court has granted bail to a student, Jawed Akhtar, who was allegedly arrested for posting objectionable post about Hindu Gods on social media (Jawed Akhtar v. State of Bihar)..A single-judge Bench of Justice Anil Kumar Sinha, granted bail to the Akhtar after noting that he has been in custody since August 9, 2020 and has no criminal antecedents."Having regard to the submissions made by the parties and taking into consideration the materials on record and the fact that the petitioner is a student and charge sheet has already been submitted in the matter as well as he is in custody since August 9, 2020 having no criminal antecedent, I am inclined to grant regular bail to the petitioner," the Court said. .The petitioner was charged under section 153(A), (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) and section 294 (obscene acts and songs) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and section 67(A) (punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit acts) of Information Technology Act..The counsel for the petitioner submitted that there was no intention on the part of the petitioner to hurt the religious feelings of Hindu community and the First Information Report clearly revealed that he had shared the post of one Reehan Khan and that post in question did not originate from his Facebook account.The petitioner's young age and the fact that he is a student were also highlighted. .The Court after taking into consideration the submissions and records, granted bail to petitioner. "Let the petitioner, above named, be released on regular bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.10,000/- (Ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount," the order said. .[Read Order]