Bombay High Court
Rana Ayyub vs State Of Uttar Pradesh on 21 June, 2021
Author: Prakash D. Naik
Bench: Prakash D. Naik
rpa 1/4 28 aba 1438 2021.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
ANTICIPATORY BAIL APPLICATION NO.1438 OF 2021
Rana Ayyub .. Applicant
Versus
State of Uttar Pradesh
Through DG (Crime Branch)
and Anr. .. Respondents
......
Mr.Mihir Desai, Senior Advocate i/b. Ms.Devyani Kulkarni,
Advocate for the Applicant.
Mr.A.R. Kapadnis, APP for the Respondent - State.
......
CORAM : PRAKASH D. NAIK, J.
DATED : JUNE 21, 2021.
P.C. :
The applicant contends that transit anticipatory bail
be granted to her in connection with FIR No.502 of 2021,
registered with Loni Border Police Station Gaziabad District,
Uttar Pradesh, for ofences punishable under Sections 153, 153-
A, 295-A, 505 and 120-B read with 34 of Indian Penal Code
("IPC", for short).
2 The contention of the applicant is that she is an
investigative journalist and writer. She has worked as reporter,
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editor and columnist with leading publications in India and
internationally. She was editor with Tehelka. She was awarded
Sanskriti Award for integrity and excellence in journalism by
President of India. She was recipients of Global Shining Lite
Award for investigative journalism in 2017 and the Most Resilient
Global Journalist of 2018, at the Peace Palace in Hague. In 2019,
she was named by Time Magazine among ten global journalists
who face maximum threats to their lives across the world.
3 The applicant contended that the FIR has been
registered on the basis of allegations that a video was uploaded
on social media which was circulated by several persons. One 72
year old person named Abdul Saif was being beaten by some
persons and cutting his beard. Incident was reported by several
newspapers and media as hate crime. The applicant re-twitted
tweet of another person. It was thereafter alleged that victim and
miscreants were known to each other and incident had occurred
on account of dispute between them. It is alleged that the
applicant has circulated it on Twitter Handle allegedly without
verifying the genuineness of the video. The applicant has
contended that after knowing about contents of FIR, the applicant
has deleted respective tweets from her Twitter. It is further
submitted that the applicant has undergone spinal surgery and
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has acute pain in her spine. Learned counsel for the applicant
submitted that notice about the hearing of this application is
given to respondent no.1.
4 Learned APP submitted that the FIR has been
registered in Uttar Pradesh. Investigation is conducted by
concerned police station. It is alleged that applicant has tweeted
without verifying contents of video.
5 The applicant is seeking temporary protection to
enable her to approach the appropriate Court for seeking
appropriate relief in connection with the aforesaid FIR. Since the
investigation is being conducted by the concerned police station
and the appropriate application will be dealt with on merits by
the concerned Court, it is not necessary to adjudicate on merits of
the matter, however, to enable the applicant to approach
appropriate Court, protection in accordance with Section 438 of
Cr.P.C. can be granted for a temporary period of four weeks.
:: O R D E R ::
(i) In the event of arrest of the applicant in connection with FIR No.502 of 2021, registered with Loni Border Police Station Gaziabad District, Uttar Pradesh, the applicant be released on bail on ::: Uploaded on - 22/06/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 23/06/2021 01:38:12 ::: rpa 4/4 28 aba 1438 2021.doc executing P.R. Bond in the sum of Rs.25,000/-, with one or more sureties in the like amount;
(ii) This protection has been granted to the applicant for a period of four weeks to enable the applicant to approach appropriate Court for seeking appropriate reliefs;
(iii) Anticipatory Bail Application No.1438 of 2021, stands disposed of accordingly.
(PRAKASH D. NAIK, J.) ::: Uploaded on - 22/06/2021 ::: Downloaded on - 23/06/2021 01:38:12 :::