2 TikTok influencers get interim relief from arrest

Mumbai: The Bombay high court  on Tuesday granted interim relief from arrest to two members of an entertainers’ group who have been booked for sharing a hate-mongering video on the TikTok App. The third person is yet to move for pre-arrest bail.

“The court has granted interim protection from arrest to Hasnain Shaikh and Shadaan Farooqui on a cash bail of Rs 10,000 each,” said their lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan.

He also said that Justice Revati Mohite-Dere had directed both persons to visit the concerned police station on July 29 and 30 and cooperate with the investigation into the case.

The applicant’s lawyer had contended in the plea that a case under section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and performing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) is not made out.  The accused had been falsely implicated in this case and since all the material was already in police custody, there was no need for custodial interrogation.

The duo moved the HC after the sessions court rejected their pre-arrest bail pleas.

According to advocate Khan, the applicants would also move for quashing of the FIR, as no case was made out against them.

The cyber police filed a FIR against the youths, alleging that they were indulging in hate-mongering, based on a complaint filed by a Twitter user.

They allegedly shared a video reacting to the mob lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Jharkhand and said that if Ansari’s son were to take revenge, he should not be called a terrorist.

Although the case has been registered against three persons, the third accused, Mudassir Shaikh, is yet to move the high court for relief from arrest.