[Prophet Muhammad row] Delhi court grants bail to Bhim Sena Chief Satpal Tanwar who announced ₹1 crore bounty on Nupur Sharma

A Delhi court has granted bail to Bhim Sena Chief Satpal Tanwar after a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him for allegedly offering a bounty of ₹1 crore to whoever cuts the tongue of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma..Tanwar had announced the bounty after Sharma made the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammed on a TV debate show.Police had said that Tanwar posted a video of him announcing the bounty and was, therefore, trying to fuel communal disharmony. .However, in his order passed on June 19, Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Dev Saroha said that the FIR was registered in haste.Judge Saroha noted that the FIR was registered on June 9 under sections 504 (intentional hurt thereby giving provocation), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (insulting modesty of a woman), and it was only later that section 154A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) was added. “The Investigating Officer (IO) despite being questioned has failed to answer why he was in such a hurry to register the FIR even when he had not seen the complete video,” the court noted in its order..The judge further said that the IO had gone to the Tanwar’s village in Haryana as well as at his locations in Gurugram yet no attempt was made to affix a notice at the village address or his house.This shows that no attempt was made to comply with the judgement of Arnesh Kumar and IO wanted to arrest the accused without complying with the directions, the court said.“Further the serious medical condition of the accused/applicant has been admitted and there is no question raised by the State regarding the same… Also, the fact that the accused is member of Bhim Sena is not relevant as Bhim Sena is not a banned organisation,” the order said..Tanwar was, therefore, granted bail on condition that he furnish a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one surety of the like amount.He was directed to appear before IO as and when called for investigation and to not leave the country without permission from the court..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.