Lawyer gets Bail in Case of Hurting Religious Sentiments

Nearly a month after she surrendered before the police, the Punjab & Haryana HC has granted regular bail to a Mohali lawyer, who apologised the same day she was accused of hurting the religious sentiments of a community.

 Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri made it clear that the applicability of Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code on deliberate & malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings would require further consideration, once apology from the petitioner’s mouth came the same day & was also released on the social media.

 Petitioner Simranjit Kaur had moved the HC against the state of Punjab & other respondents through counsel DPS Randhawa, Suvir Sidhu & Rohit Sud. She was seeking the grant of bail in First Information Report (FIR) dated Dec 18, 2019, under Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code & the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, registered at the Cantonment Police Station in Amritsar Police Commissionerate.

 She was accused of using derogatory remarks against a religious figure worshipped as a god by people in India & abroad.

Justice Puri asserted that the petitioner, on the same day the alleged remarks were made, immediately apologised by uploading another CD. In a separate CD, she for the second time apologised as never intended to hurt the feelings of anybody.

 After appreciating the arguments raised at length by the counsel for the parties & taking into consideration the totality of circumstances of the case, Justice Puri granted the benefit of bail to the petitioner after observing that recovery wasn't to be made in the present case & the apology was tendered the same date the alleged video was uploaded on the social media.

 Justice Puri added that it was not respondent-state’s case that there was likelihood of petitioner influencing witnesses or tempering record. “I deem it appropriate to grant the benefit of bail to the petitioner. Consequently, the present petition is allowed. It is ordered that the petitioner shall be released on regular bail on his furnishing bail bond/surety to the satisfaction of the learned trial court”.

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