GUWAHATI, Oct 21: The Gauhati High Court has granted bail to a man who was booked for making an “offensive” Facebook post which allegedly indicated that “the leaders of the Assam Agitation came to power in the state after killing thousands of people.”
The accused petitioner, Abu Bakkar Siddique alias Avga Khan Avilekh, had sought bail under Section 439 Cr.P.C, after he was booked following an allegation that he used fake Facebook accounts to send messages having an oblique reference to the Assam Agitation of 1979, with a view to create a communal atmosphere in the state.
A case (North Guwahati police station case number 130/2021) was earlier registered under Sections 120(B)/153A(1) (a)/153B(1)(a) & (c)/298/ 505 (1)(b)(c)/505(2) of the Indian Penal Code, read with Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, read with Section 66(f) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
However, the court, considering the length of detention of the petitioner for 47 days, was of the view that further custodial detention of the petitioner was not necessary and, hence, he was granted bail.
Accordingly, the accused petitioner was released on bail in connection with the case on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 with two suitable sureties of the like amount, to the satisfaction of chief judicial magistrate (Kamrup), Amingaon.
The direction for bail is further subject to the conditions that the accused-petitioner shall not leave the territorial jurisdiction of the CJM (Kamrup), Amingaon, without prior written permission from him and that he shall not hamper with the investigation, or tamper with the evidence of the case.
“The accused-petitioner shall not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police officer,” the court ordered.
