SC grants pre-arrest bail to influencer accused of misquoting Rahul Gandhi
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New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted anticipatory bail to an influencer accused of misquoting a statement made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha.
A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Aravind Kumar granted the bail to Raushan Sinha, saying his arrest was unnecessary and that there was no need for custodial interrogation.
The apex court set aside a Telangana High Court order which refused to grant Sinha pre-arrest bail.
Allowing Sinha's plea, the top court granted him anticipatory bail, observing that the matter could proceed without his detention.
The case stemmed from a July 1, 2024, speech in Parliament in which Gandhi reportedly said that those "who call themselves Hindus are constantly engaged in violence, hatred and lies".
The following day, Sinha posted an image of Gandhi on X with the caption: "Those who are Hindus are violent -- Rahul Gandhi."
The post triggered an online backlash, leading to a Congress worker filing a complaint at a cybercrime police station in Hyderabad.
Sinha was subsequently booked for offences relating to intentional insult, publication of false statements, and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Sinha claimed his post was "political commentary" protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and that the FIR was politically motivated to "harass and silence" him for criticising an opposition leader.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
