Thiruvananthapuram ,August 10
The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday granted bail to T G Mohandas, 71, who was arrested by the Cyber Police over allegedly provocative remarks made in a YouTube video against student protesters at Jantar Mantar.
The court imposed three conditions while allowing the bail application. Mohandas has been directed to appear before investigators for questioning for three days and sign a register at the police station every Monday. He has also been instructed not to repeat any similar offence while on bail.
The police opposed the bail plea, arguing that there was a possibility of Mohandas destroying evidence. Investigators also informed the court that efforts were under way to trace the administrator of the YouTube channel on which the allegedly objectionable remarks appeared.
According to the remand report, Mohandas confessed to the offence during interrogation. Police also claimed to have recovered digital evidence during a search conducted at his residence in Mattanchery on Sunday.
Seeking bail, Mohandas denied wrongdoing and maintained that his comments were an exercise of his fundamental right to freedom of expression. His petition referred to 10 FIRs reportedly registered by the Delhi Police against the protesters and alleged that the case against him was politically motivated because of his association with the RSS and BJP.
His counsel also urged the court to consider his age and health while deciding the application. The petition said Mohandas had suffered a stroke and was dealing with psoriasis and early-stage Parkinson’s disease. His lawyer argued that the police action was contrary to the rule of law.
Mohandas told the court that he was prepared to comply with any conditions imposed for his release.
The Cyber Police registered the case following an initial complaint from advocate Abdul Khasim of the Young Democrats, Kerala. Police subsequently received around 20 more complaints of a similar nature concerning the remarks.
