Supreme Court Grants Interim Protection From Arrest To Muslim Man Who Used Obscene Words Against Hindu Gods After He Issues Apology

The Bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti issued notice and observed, “In the meantime, the petitioner shall not be arrested subject to the condition that he shall co-operate with the investigation.”

Advocate Shahrukh Alam appeared on behalf of the Petitioner.

The counsel for the Petitioner highlighted that an apology has been rendered by him and the same was perused by the Court. The Court granted him interim protection on the condition that he must cooperate with the investigation.

An FIR was registered alleging that one Neelabh Sourav, belonging to the Muslim community, posted a poem using obscene words on his Facebook account. The present Petition was filed against the order of the High Court of Gauhati.

The High Court refused to grant him pre-arrest bail and held “Further, it appears from the case diary that the applicant has been absconding since the date of occurrence to avoid arrest by police and if he is extended the privilege of pre-arrest bail, then there is every possibility of hampering the investigation and tampering the witnesses, and therefore, this Court is inclined to dismiss this application.”

The High Court also observed, “The case diary indicates that the I.O. has collected sufficient incriminating materials against the applicant. It also appears that investigation is going on and at this stage, it cannot said that custodial interrogation of the applicant is not required in the interest of investigation. His custodial interrogation seems to be indispensable in the interest of investigation.”

Cause Title: Rakib Uddin Ahmed @ Neelabh Sourav v. State of Assam & Anr.

Appearances:

Petitioner: Advocates Shahrukh Alam, Akriti Chaubey, Shantanu Singh, Sadhana Madhavan