Varun Agrawal vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 24 July, 2023

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Madhya Pradesh High Court

Varun Agrawal vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 24 July, 2023

Bench: Anil Verma

                                                              1
                            IN     THE      HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                                                  AT INDORE
                                                       BEFORE
                                           HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE ANIL VERMA
                                                  ON THE 24 th OF JULY, 2023
                                          MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 30991 of 2023

                           BETWEEN:-
                           VARUN AGRAWAL S/O SHRI RAKESH AGRAWAL, AGED
                           35 YEARS, OCCUPATION: JOB R/O NEAR JYOT CHAUK
                           SHANTI NAGAR DISTT. JALANDHAR (PUNJAB)

                                                                                             .....APPLICANT
                           (BY SHRI AVINASH SIRPURKAR - SENIOR ADVOCATE WITH
                           SHRITEJASVI NAGAR - ADVOCATE FOR THE APPLICANT)

                           AND
                           THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH THROUGH POLICE
                           STATION LASUDIYA DISTRICT INDORE (MADHYA
                           PRADESH)

                                                                                          .....RESPONDENT
                           ( BY SHRI BHUWAN DESHMUKH - GOVERNMENT ADVOCATE)
                           (SHRI ROHIT SHUKLA - ADVOCATE FOR OBJECTOR)

                                 This application coming on for admission this day, the court passed the
                           following:
                                                               ORDER

This is the first application filed by the applicant under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for grant of anticipatory bail relating to Crime No. 777/2023 registered at Police Station Lasudiya District Indore (M.P.) for the offence under Sections 469, 500 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and section 67a of IT (Amendment) Act, 2008.

2 . As per the prosecution story, the complainant Rajesh Joshi is an advocate and member of Rashtiyr Sevak Sangh (RSS). The complainant on 9.6.2023 while scrolling his Facebook account, stumbled upon Piyush Aher's Signature Not Verified Signed by: BHUNESHWAR DATT Signing time: 25-07-2023 18:05:15 2 timeline. In that he found few videos and images posts which were against RSS and with an intent of inciting hatred towards RSS. Such a post would result in hurting the sentiments of RSS workers and volunteers. It was uploaded for the first time on website "janta se rishta", whose admin is Apurv Bharadwaj. Same post was found on the twitter handle Bhavika Kapoor and Anuj Yadav. Also, it was hosted on the Encounter India News portal whose controller for the time being was the applicant. Accordingly, a case has been registered against the present applicant.

3.. Learned counsel for the applicant contended that applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this offence. He is not even the director of Encounter India or any post holder. Website Janta Se Rishta first uploaded the news and thereafter copy-pasted the same news from (JSR News Update 252) and uploaded it on their portal. But the applicant website time zone set as UTC. Section 500 IPC is a non cogninzable offence which implies that FIR cannot be lodged by the police without obtaining an order from Magistrate as per section 155 Cr.P.C. There is neither any intention nor any knowledge that mere posting of such a video by applicant would cause defamation. There is no proof that the complainant is the member of RSS or holds any post. The applicant is permanent resident of District Jalandhar Punjab. Complainant has filed similar complaint against Digvijay Singh, a Congress leader which clearly demonstrate malice on the part of complainant. The accused has been operating the Encounter .India.in since last 20 years. There is no legal evidence available on record to connect the applicant with the aforementioned offence. Under the above circumstances, prayer for grant of anticipatory bail may be considered on such terms and conditions, as this Court deems fit and proper.

Signature Not Verified Signed by: BHUNESHWAR DATT Signing time: 25-07-2023 18:05:15 3

4. Per-contra, learned counsel for the respondent - State opposes the bail application and prays for its rejection.

5 . Counsel for objector opposes the bail application and prays for its rejection by submitting that applicant has made certain videos and uploaded videos with malafide intention to defame RSS and tarnished the image of RSS. The applicant is Editor and Director of Encounter News. He has published the fake news without obtaining its verification and if applicant is enlarged on anticipatory bail he may abscond.

6. Perused the impugned order of the trial Court as well as the case dairy.

7 . Considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, arguments advanced by both the parties, nature of allegation it is revealed that applicant is operating Encounter News since last 20 years and the aforesaid video clippings and posts were uploaded by applicant alongwith other co-accused persons, it is also alleged that one of director of Encounter News Kamal Agrawal has absconded to Canada. In view of the prima facie evidence available on record, this court is not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to applicant.

8. Hence this anticipatory bail application filed by applicant under section 438 Cr.P.C. is hereby rejected.

Certified copy as per rules.

(ANIL VERMA) JUDGE BDJ Signature Not Verified Signed by: BHUNESHWAR DATT Signing time: 25-07-2023 18:05:15

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