Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale. (Facebook)In its detailed order granting bail to Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale, the Thane sessions court in Maharashtra said the police did not comply with procedures while arresting her. Chitale was arrested a month ago for allegedly posting a defamatory poem on Facebook purported to be against NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
She was granted bail by the court on Wednesday after her lawyers submitted that she was not sent a notice, as required by the law, before being arrested.
The Thane court accepted the contention stating that the case documents showed that the directions issued in the Arnesh Kumar judgment by the Supreme Court requiring a notice to be issued “were not
properly complied with”.
The court also considered the grant of relief by the Bombay High Court earlier this week to 22-year-old Nashik resident Nikhil Bhamre, booked in a similar offence. The court said that while the police had initially opposed Chitale’s bail plea, the investigating officer had later given a no-objection.
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“Investigation is practically completed, no purpose would otherwise be served by detention of the applicant in custody,” the court said, granting her bail. Chitale was released from jail on Thursday.
In May, Chitale had allegedly shared a poem on her Facebook account, attributed to a person, that mentioned only a surname (Pawar) and an age (80). But it also referred to the physical ailments the 81-year-old NCP chief suffers from. Apart from the FIR filed at Kalwa, Chitale also faced FIRs in other parts of the state, including in Pune and Pimpri. Chitale had last week approached the high court seeking the quashing of more than 20 FIRs against her.
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