The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on 20 December 2023 granted anticipatory bail to Pravin Raj, a Tamil Nadu BJP social media functionary who was booked for a social media post targeting Dharmpuri DMK MP Senthilkumar over the recent Parliament security breach incident.
A political activist and the social media in-charge for Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Tamil Nadu had posted on his X “#SecurityBreach happened in Loksabha you know why? Because of irresponsible MPs like you were distributing “Visitor passes” via social media for publicity and without background verification. Take responsibility on this #ParliamentAttack; don’t blame. @DrSenthil_MDRD”
Pravin Raj posted this on social media on December 13, 2023, but eventually removed it due to its widespread attention.
He was booked under sections 504 (deliberate insult to incite a breach of peace), 505(1)(b) (intent to instill fear or alarm among the public, possibly resulting in offenses against the State or public tranquility) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and section 66 (computer-related offenses) of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The FIR was initiated by the Trichy Cyber Crime Police station in response to his tweet.
While Pravin Raj didn’t explicitly mention that DMK MP Senthilkumar was responsible for the Parliament attack, his comments were construed as attempt to spread fake news against the legislator.
He filed an anticipatory bail petition with the Madras High Court, Madurai Bench. The case, listed as item No.78, was heard on 20 December 2023 by Hon’ble Mr. Justice V. Sivagnanam.
Following arguments from both parties, the Hon’ble Court granted anticipatory bail on one’s own surety without imposing any conditions.
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