CHENNAI: A Chennai court has granted bail to a DMK IT wing functionary arrested over a social media post alleging the illegal sale of temple land worth Rs 100 crore and linking relatives of HR&CE Minister Ramesh to the controversy.
“In a democracy, the voice of dissent is to be respected. Merely criticising the government or its ministers does not amount to an offence against the state or public tranquillity,” Principal Sessions Judge S Karthikeyan observed in an order passed on Wednesday.
The court held that the charges invoked by the police were not attracted in the case and granted bail to R Vinoth Suriyakumar, who was taken into custody on July 15 over a post on his Instagram account, Political Mapla.
The police booked him under Sections 192, 353(1)(b) and 353(2) of the BNS, alleging offences against the state and public tranquillity, besides circulating false information to promote enmity among communities. The judge said it is clear that the allegations made in the FIR do not attract any of the offences charged against the petitioner.
The judge also noted that the petitioner’s posting messages would at best attract an offence punishable under section 356 of BNS (defamation), and it is not a cognisable offence.
He also held that the custodial interrogation of the petitioner, for which the police filed an application in the judicial magistrate court, was not necessary since nothing remains to be extracted within the exclusive knowledge of the petitioner. He imposed conditions of executing a bond, sureties and appearing before the investigation officer daily until further orders.