The Bombay High Court has granted anticipatory bail to the journalist who was booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of Indian Army soldier Lance Naik Roy Mathew (pictured above) in March, PTI reported on Sunday. Poonam Aggarwal was granted relief on a surety of Rs 25,000 after no prima facie offence was made out against her.
Kargil war veteran Deepchand Singh, who was also booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the case, was granted bail, as well.
On March 27, Maharashtra’s Nashik Police had booked Aggarwal and Singh after Mathew was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a room near the Deolali Cantonment on March 2. The sting video Aggarwal had shot to highlight the prevalent “sahayak system” in the Army had featured Mathew accusing his seniors of harassment.
The two accused in the case had approached the High Court after a sessions court had rejected their pleas for anticipatory bail. “After viewing the said clip, it appears that the purpose of the sting operation was to show that sahayaks were made to do menial work,” the bench said, according to PTI. It also expressed doubts about whether the case would merit allegations under the Official Secrets Act.
The High Court directed Aggarwal and Singh to appear before the police on May 2, May 3 and May 4 to record their statement and for questioning. The bench also asked the journalist to surrender the raw footage of her sting operation to the police.
Mathew had gone missing from his camp on February 25, a day after appearing in the video. The clip, which had featured soldiers walking dogs of senior officers and taking their children to school, had sparked a controversy over the British-era practice.
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