Times Now Navbharat reporter Bhavana Kishore gets bail from Punjab HC

New Delhi: In a big relief to arrested Times Network's Bhavana Kishore, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Saturday granted interim bail to the scribe.

The journalist was arrested and charged under the SC/ST Act on Friday by Ludhiana Police.

The court will hear the regular bail hearing on Monday.

"The court agreed prima facie that this case is false... Whatever objection the state is having, that case will be heard on Monday," Kishore's lawyer Chetan Mittal said.

Kishore along with video journalist Mritunjay Kumar and driver Parminder were arrested by the Punjab Police while covering a public event being attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

"Kishore went to a public function in Ludhiana where journalists including our group were invited. Later, she was stopped and arrested by a male policeman who was not even wearing his nameplate. How Bhavana was intimidated by the cops was captured on our cameras," the channel said.

The arrest was made days after, Times Now Navbharat's operation sheeshmahal reported that around Rs 45 crores were spent in the renovation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence at Civil Lines.

On Thursday, Times Now accessed images of the entire house. Delhi CM's official residence is a three-storey building. The total area of the residence, including 399 sq feet of lawn, is around 13,000 sq feet. The rooms of Kejriwal's official residence are reported to be spacious with modern facilities.

The Chandigarh Press Club and the Press Club of India condemned the unlawful arrest of the Times Now journalist.

In a press release in the evening, it was informed that Commissionerate Police on Friday arrested three persons for hitting a woman with a speeding car, resulting in injury on her right hand and also using derogatory language.