Ranchi court withdraws order to distribute Quran for bail over ‘communal’ FB post

Ranchi: A local court in Ranchi on Wednesday withdrew its order to a Hindu girl to donate copies of the Quran to obtain bail after she was arrested for an alleged inflammatory post on Facebook. The court of first-class judicial magistrate Manish Kumar Singh withdrew the order after police submitted an application for modification of the bail condition as it was difficult to implement.
The development comes on the day when support poured in for Richa Bharti (19) from the political and judicial fraternity with a cabinet minister, the bar association and the women’s commission rallying behind her.
The court in its modified order said: “The investigating officer has prayed that the condition of donating the Holy Quran by the petitioner may be done away with because of difficulties in its implementation. Having heard submissions of learned APP, this court modifies its earlier order by dropping the additional condition of distribution of copies of Holy Quran by the petitioner. Accordingly, the order dated 15 July is modified upto this extent.”
“The court modified its judgment in which it had directed Bharti to distribute five copies of Quran to different institutions,” Arvind Kumar, a lawyer at the Ranchi district court, said.
Responding to the modified order. Bharti said it was a victory against an order that was violating her fundamental rights. “I will go to higher judiciary to ensure punishment to those who have abused me on facebook and threatened me of dire consequences,” she said.
A case was registered against Bharti by Anjuman Committee at Pithoria police station in Ranchi on Sunday. She was charged with spreading communal hatred through her Facebook post. She was arrested within three hours of the post. Her arrest had created resentment among Hindu community members with Hindu organisations taking out a protest march.
On Monday, the judge had asked Richa Bharti (19), who was arrested for allegedly sharing an objectionable post about the minority community on social media, to deposit two sureties of Rs 7000 each and donate four copies of Quran to government-owned educational institutions and one to the complainant, Mansur Khalifa, who is also a member of Sadar Anjuman Committee. The order stated that Bharti had to donate the copies of Quran within a fortnight in police presence.
The condition for bail triggered controversy as Bharti refused to abide by the order and said she will approach higher judicial authority. “I only shared a Facebook post. The person who posted it should have been arrested first. I will appeal against the order in High Court. Today I have been asked to distribute Quran. Tomorrow I may be asked to accept Islam,” Richa had told reporters on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, support started pouring in from all quarters. C P Singh, a minister in the Jharkhand government, offered Bharti financial and moral support even if she took her fight to the Supreme Court. “In my personal capacity, I would help her fight for justice,” he said ahead of the modification of the court order.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Ranchi District Bar Association boycotted the judge’s court. “We kept ourselves away from the judicial process in the court of Manish Kumar” Kundan Prakashan, Ranchi District Bar Association (RDBA) secretary, said. The members filed a representation before the Judicial Commissioner Navneet Kumar. “The agitation was withdrawn after the JC assured us that he will take appropriate steps within 48 hours,” Prakashan added.
Chairperson of Jharkhand state women commission Kalyani Sharan met the girl, recorded her statement and asked the government to take action against the erring officer incharge of Pithoria police station. “It is mistake on part of police administration to arrest a girl after sunset and forward her to jail without giving any chance to her to explain her side,” Sharan said.
With inputs from Sanjay Sahay and Mukesh Kumar Bhatt