Court finds man's arrest for sharing edited video of CM Fadnavis `illegal', orders release

Mumbai, Jan 3 (PTI) A court on Friday held as illegal the arrest of a man for allegedly sharing a mischievously edited video of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, as the police had failed to inform him the grounds of arrest.

Cyber police had arrested Varad Tukaram Kanki on Thursday. The magistrate's court here, however, noted that police did not follow the procedure, and ordered his immediate release while issuing the investigating officer a show-cause notice.

Fadnavis had said in a recent speech in the state legislature that Naxalites do not believe in the Indian Constitution and democracy. A social media user edited out the initial part of the speech to make it appear that he was saying `we do not believe in the Constitution'. The video went viral.

Kanki was produced before the magistrate on Friday. Police sought his remand saying a thorough investigation was required as the video, posted with "malicious intent", could have caused riots.

Advocate Aishwarya Sharma, appearing for the accused, argued that Kanki did not create the video, but allegedly only shared it on his social media account. It was later taken down.

Legal procedure was not followed by the probe agency while making the arrest, she further argued.

The court, after going through the record, found that the grounds of arrest were not intimated to the accused and his family, and the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court were not followed.

Holding Kanki's arrest as illegal, the court ordered his release.

The court also issued a show-cause notice to the investigating officer over the illegal arrest, the defence lawyer said. PTI AVI KRK