Allahabad High Court Stays Arrest of Accused Man Sharing a Morphed Image of Former CM Akhilesh Yadav on Social Media. The Lucknow Bench restrains UP Police from detaining him, granting immediate relief to the accused.
The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court prohibited the Uttar Pradesh police from arresting a man accused of sharing a manipulated image of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on social media.
Earlier, a division bench consisting of Justices Rajnish Kumar and Rajeev Singh issued the interim order while considering a writ petition filed by Arun Kumar, also known as Arun Yadav or Arun Kasli.
The petitioner sought to quash the FIR lodged against him in August at the Gomti Nagar police station in Lucknow.
The FIR was filed under various sections, including 147, 196, 197, and 353 of the B.N.S., Section 67 of the I.T. Act, and Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. Kumar was accused of sharing an image purportedly showing the Samajwadi Party chief with Jyoti Malhotra, who was recently arrested in connection with officials from Pakistan.
According to Kumar’s petition, the issue began on May 20, 2025, when Dr. Ajay Alok posted a photograph on his X (formerly Twitter) account featuring Yadav alongside Abhishek Mishra and Jyoti Malhotra. Kumar reposted this image, expressing concern and accusing the opposition leader of having anti-national connections. However, upon realizing the image was altered, he quickly deleted it.
Despite the deletion, a written complaint was submitted to the police on May 31, 2025, and later to the Police Commissioner on June 17. Initially, the police did not file an FIR, concluding there was no cognizable offense.
However, the complainant approached a magistrate under Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023. On July 10, 2025, the magistrate ordered the registration of the FIR, which the police subsequently carried out.
In his plea to the High Court, Kumar argued that the case was politically motivated and lacked legal merit. His counsel asserted that none of the cited provisions applied, as reposting the image did not equate to waging war against the government, inciting enmity, or causing public mischief.
Additionally, there had been no reports of disturbances resulting from the tweet, which had already been removed.
The State, represented by the Additional Government Advocate, defended the FIR, claiming it was lawfully registered following the magistrate’s directive. The AGA further informed the court that an investigation was underway to gather pertinent evidence.
After hearing both parties, the bench stated that the matter required further consideration.
Consequently, it issued a notice to one of the respondents and granted the State four weeks to file its counter affidavit, with Kumar allowed two weeks to submit his rejoinder. The case will be listed again after the exchange of pleadings.
Importantly, the High Court granted Kumar protection from immediate arrest, stipulating that he would not be taken into custody unless incriminating evidence emerged during the investigation, contingent upon his cooperation with the authorities.