Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale on Thursday moved the Bombay High Court challenging her arrest for posting allegedly derogatory social media content about Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, reported PTI.
Chitale was arrested on May 15 based on a complaint filed by Nationalist Congress Party worker Swapnil Netke.
She was granted bail earlier on Thursday by a Thane court, reported NDTV. However, she will remain in jail as there are over 20 cases pending against her.
In her plea, the actor said that her arrest was not in accordance with the law. The petition, filed through advocate Yogesh Deshpande, submitted that the police should have given the actor a notice under section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The section states that the police must serve notice to a person for questioning. Chitale alleged that the Thane Police did not issue a notice and instead asked her on a phone call to report to the police station.
“Being a law-abiding citizen, she complied,” Deshpande said, according to India Today. “The officials of the Kalwa Police Station were present there and they took her into custody.”
The plea submitted that the police were determined to arrest her even before they questioned her.
“The sequence of events clearly showed that an officer competent to effect an arrest reached Kalamboli in a tearing hurry without any reasonable cause with a predetermination to arrest me,” it added.
The actor also alleged that as she was being taken to a police vehicle, a mob led by a woman member of the Nationalist Congress Party “attacked the police party, assaulted her and also outraged her modesty”.
Chitale claimed that the police has been trying to not let her file first information reports against Nationalist Congress Party workers. The actor also said that she had merely shared a poem written by someone else in the social media post and had not named Pawar.
On May 13, the 29-year-old actor, had shared a poem on Facebook and attributed it to advocate Nitin Bhave. The poem had mentioned the Nationalist Congress Party chief’s last name and referred to a person above 80 years of age.
The social media post had said that “hell is waiting” for Pawar and made references to his illness and appearance. The poem added that Pawar harbours hatred for Brahmins.
Chitale has filed a separate petition to quash the FIR against her.
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