Filmmaker Avinash Das moves Guj HC for anticipatory bail in case related to sharing Shah's photo
Ahmedabad, Jun 22: Filmmaker Avinash Das has approached the Gujarat High Court seeking anticipatory bail in a case where is accused of sharing a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Puja Singhal on Twitter.
Das moved the high court after a sessions court here rejected his anticipatory bail in connection with an FIR lodged by the Ahmedabad city crime branch under sections 469 (forgery) of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and Information and Technology Act.
The matter came up before the court of Justice Nikhi S Kariel on Wednesday and has been adjourned to June 27.
The city crime branch had registered an FIR against Das after he shared a photo showing Singhal, who was recently arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, whispering something to Shah.
As per the FIR, in a caption to the photo Das had claimed that the picture was taken a few days before Singhal's arrest, when it was actually taken in 2017.
The filmmaker was also booked for insulting the national honour by sharing a photo on his Instagram and Facebook accounts of a woman wearing the tricolour.
Earlier this month, a sessions court had rejected Das' bail plea, after observing that he had deliberately claimed that the photo of Shah with Singhal was taken a few days before the latter's arrest, with the intention to "tarnish the image of the Home Minister".
The photo of a woman wrapped in the national flag showed Das' "mental perverseness", the court had said in its order.
As a filmmaker, "it is his prime duty to maintain the dignity of the country and to give respect to the national flag as well as the Honourable Home Minister of India," the court had said in its order.
Before that, the Bombay High Court had rejected Das' transit anticipatory bail application.
The Mumbai-based filmmaker has directed the 2017 film "Anaarkali of Aarah", starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi. His 2021 release includes "Raat Baaki Hai" and he has also directed the Netflix series "She".
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
