The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government to modify a lookout circular against British doctor Sangram Patil, who had been booked for “objectionable” posts on social media about Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, so that he can return to his home country, Live Law reported.
The circular is used by law enforcement authorities to check whether a person entering or leaving the country is wanted by the police.
On January 10, Patil, who is also a content creator, was detained at the Mumbai airport after he arrived from London, in connection with the allegedly derogatory online posts about the BJP. The Indian-origin doctor was later allowed to leave after being given a notice to join the investigation.
He was then prevented from flying back to London on January 19 by the immigration department, which cited the lookout circular.
This came after BJP leader Nikhil Bhamre, in a complaint in December, alleged that Patil had deliberately made allegedly defamatory and misleading posts about the Hindutva party. The online posts could create feelings of enmity and hatred between groups, Bhamre claimed.
Based on the complaint, a first information report was registered against Patil by the cybercrime department under the Information Technology Act. A lookout notice had also been issued against him.
Patil’s YouTube channel has more than four lakh subscribers, and his Facebook page has more than one lakh followers. His posts on the video platform and social media cover several topics, including political commentary. Some posts were critical of the Narendra Modi government.
The doctor filed a criminal writ petition in the court seeking the quashing of the FIR and the lookout circular filed against him. In his petition, Patil said that he was being targeted for political reasons and that the case was a misuse of criminal law to suppress dissenting political views.
Describing the FIR and the circular as illegal, Patil had sought their quashing, a stay on further investigation, protection from coercive action and permission to return to the United Kingdom.
In an affidavit in court responding to the petition, the Mumbai Police in February claimed that Patil’s visit to India on a tourist visa and his activities on social media were part of a “larger, organised effort” to post defamatory and inflammatory material about Prime Minister Narendra Modi while living outside the country.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Raj Tilak Roushan described this as a matter of serious concern. The police also defended the investigation, alleging that Patil had not fully cooperated and also avoided submitting devices and credentials for forensic analysis.
Roushan said that the matter warranted an investigation to look into why a foreign citizen, despite being a qualified medical professional in India on a tourist visa, was engaged in posting allegedly scandalous and obscene content online about Modi from abroad.
The police required Patil’s presence within the country as it would be difficult to track him once he went back to the United Kingdom, he said.
On Tuesday, Justice Ashwin Bhobhe took on record affidavits-cum-undertakings filed by Patil and his parents to the court that he would come to India and co-operate with the prosecution as and when required, Live Law reported.
Patil’s parents had stood as an assurance in the matter.
The judge further ordered the state government to modify the lookout circular by May 11 so that Patil could fly back to his home country. While the interim petition was disposed of, the main matter seeking quashing of the FIR was listed for a later date.
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