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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3 officials of private banks arrested in Gujarat in Rs 2,500 crore cyber fraud; 20 held so far
Rajkot (PTI): Three officials of leading private banks were arrested for their alleged involvement in a Rs 2,500-crore cyber fraud racket in Gujarat's Rajkot district, bringing the number of those held so far in the case to 20, police said on Monday.
Those arrested were identified as Maulik Kamani, a personal manager at Yes Bank in Padadhari; Kalpesh Dangariya, a manager at Axis Bank in Jamnagar; and Anurag Baldha, a personal banker with HDFC Bank, Rajkot (Rural) Superintendent of Police Vijay Gurjar said.
Dangariya and Baldha were previously employed with Yes Bank, he added.
Kamani allegedly assisted the earlier arrested accused in opening and managing suspicious accounts. He also helped bypass banking alerts triggered by high-value transactions by submitting additional documentation to keep accounts active, the SP said.
Kamani was allegedly involved in cash withdrawals that were later routed through hawala channels (illegal money transfer system), supported by digital evidence recovered from his mobile device, he added.
Dangariya is accused of facilitating the opening of fraudulent accounts using fake or misrepresented identities, police said.
He also assisted in structuring documentation, including Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)-related papers, to prevent transactions from being flagged as suspicious, they said.
On the other hand, Baldha opened new accounts after verification and certification processes as part of the racket, Gurjar informed.
All the three accused are in police custody, while others are in jail under judicial remand, SP said.
So far, police have identified 85 bank accounts linked to the racket with 535 complaints filed on the cyber crime portal.
The total transaction linked to the cyber fraud exceeds Rs 2,500 crore, police said.
The earlier fraud amount was pegged by police at Rs 1,500 crore.
