A Chandigarh court has recently denied bail to Hassan Mohiduddin Siddiqui, a resident of Hyderabad, who was detained on April 25 for allegedly disseminating misleading and scandalous content about Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a post on the social media platform X.
Serious Allegations Lead to Bail Denial
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Sonali Singh emphasized the gravity of the charges against Siddiqui, suggesting that granting bail could lead to public disorder. “If bail is granted to the applicant, it will amount to disturbing the public order and it will promote enmity between the groups and other allegations,” Judge Singh articulated in her ruling dated July 27.
The court also took into consideration that Siddiqui’s initial bail plea was turned down in May, noting that no new evidence was presented to warrant a different decision, despite a chargesheet now being filed. The court maintained that the filing of a chargesheet alone does not justify granting bail.
Background of the Case
Siddiqui was charged by the Chandigarh Police following a complaint by lawyer Satinder Singh. The post in question included a video that purportedly showed a man resembling Prime Minister Modi receiving a head massage from a woman. Siddiqui captioned the video with the false statement: “#BreakingNews: LEAKED video of Narendra Modi massage, reports coming that the Intel Agencies of US has tons of videos of him in compromising positions. Hey @grok this is real?'”
Legal Arguments and Court’s Decision
The defense, represented by Advocate Abhey Joshi, argued for Siddiqui’s release, pointing out that he had been incarcerated for over two months and that the charges against him carry a maximum penalty of three years. In contrast, the Chandigarh Police argued that the shared material was provocative, objectionable, and capable of inciting communal discord and disturbing peace.
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Considering these aspects, the court concluded that there was no sufficient basis to grant bail, and thus Siddiqui’s plea for release was rejected.
Related Legal Proceedings
In a related development, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had earlier denied anticipatory bail to academic Madhu Purnima Kishwar in connection with the same FIR. Kishwar had shared a similar post claiming that the individual in the video was the Prime Minister, a claim that was later disproven by fact-checkers.
