Punjab & Haryana HC denies anticipatory bail to Madhu Kishwar in case over misleading X post about PM Modi

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday denied anticipatory bail to academic Madhu Purnima Kishwar in a case involving allegations of a video being circulated on social media with false claims that the person in it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi..According to media reports, the X post shared by Kishwar claimed that the man receiving a facial massage in a video was the Prime Minister. The claim was later debunked by fact-checkers.Kishwar was eventually booked by the Chandigarh police in the criminal case registered in the matter. She then moved the High Court seeking anticipatory bail. On Friday, Justice Aman Chaudhary noted that Kishwar had failed to appear before the police despite repeated notices, showing her non-cooperation with the investigating agency. The Court observed that she was a prominent social media personality and a scholar who could not be presumed to be oblivious to the impact of such a tweet, which attracted not only 1.74 Lakh views but even comments by other-accused and the public. "Apparently, the video under scanner, was uploaded on other social media platforms, however, as a matter of fact, it was only after the petitioner uploaded the same with her comment/s, that it garnered 1,74,000 views and speculations were made of it resembling the holder of a Constitutional post, which was confirmed when she further retweeted in that regard, as is discernible from Annexure P-2," the Court said..The Court also took note of her other posts, alleged to be objectionable in nature, and said that there is an obvious distinction between constructive criticism and tweeting or trolling to malign, cause aspersions and insinuation.“In case the same is by someone like the petitioner, who has a large social media following, the magnitude of the repercussions can be far from that can be fathomed. Such posts can create disharmony, encourage separatist sentiments and put the unity and integrity at peril,” the Bench added.The Court opined that the "modus operandi" adopted in the matter was yet to be unraveled and thus the concession of anticipatory bail could not be granted to Kishwar."The peculiarity of the facts and circumstances of the present case being such that the investigation is at a nascent stage and several aspects remain to be unearthed, including the origination of the post, the individuals involved in orchestrating it and the nature of the relationship and familiarity between the petitioner and the other persons concerned, which assumes significance particularly in wake of her comment addressed to one Mehak, stating, 'Baaki aath bhi share kar dalo Mehak Behna,'" the Court said..Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal and Sartej Singh Narula represented Kishwar. They argued that there was no ill intent behind her tweet. They also submitted that she has being wrongly implicated in the case and had only retweeted the video clip.However, Senior Advocate Amit Jhanji appearing for UT Police said Kishwar had downloaded the video and then uploaded it on her X handle. She not only aided in spreading misinformation but also defamed the image of the Head of the Government, Jhanji said..[Read Order]