A Delhi court Today (June 19th) granted bail to Arun Kumar Bereddy of Congress party in a case involving a fake video of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi.
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NEW DELHI: On June 19, a Delhi court granted bail to Arun Kumar Bereddy, a member of the Congress party, in a case involving a fake video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Judge Akanksha Garg dismissed the State’s request for three days of police custody for further interrogation.
The Court determined that Bereddy’s arrest was illegal due to the absence of a proper notice, as required under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“Hence, I hereby dismiss the application seeking PC remand of the accused. Arrest of the accused is found to be illegal as no proper notice u/s 41A CrPC has been served. Hence, accused is admitted to bail on furnishing personal bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount after verification of address of accused as well as Surety,”
-the Court observed.
Bereddy was arrested by the Delhi police on the night of June 18. The Investigating Officer (IO) then moved an application seeking a three-day police custody remand. The prosecution alleged that Bereddy had posted fake, morphed, and misleading information and photos with the intention of damaging PM Modi’s reputation.
They further argued that Bereddy’s actions had a negative impact on the morale of women in the Armed/Central Forces and affected friendly relations with other countries. The prosecution contended that Bereddy had withheld crucial information regarding the source of the posts, despite sustained interrogation.
In contrast, Bereddy’s counsel argued that the arrest was politically motivated, citing Bereddy’s position as the National Coordinator of Social Media for the Congress Party. The counsel also noted that the posts in question were from 2022-2023, suggesting that there was no urgency requiring custodial interrogation.
The Court observed that Bereddy was arrested when he visited the police station in connection with another case. It was further noted that the notice under Section 41A CrPC was served merely as a formality and lacked genuine compliance with the provision.
“The accused must have been given sufficient time to join the investigation; however, he was arrested by the IO at 10:30 PM. This is not a case where the accused has failed to join the investigation. Moreover, the offences in question u/s 294/469/499/500/504 IPC & Sec 67 IT Act are bailable in nature. The only non-bailable offence invoked by the IO is Sec. 505 (1) (b) IPC. However, in view of the fact that the mobile phone of the accused has already been seized and the password has been provided, no further custodial interrogation is warranted,”
-the Court stated while granting conditional bail to Bereddy.
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