The Bombay High Court stated on Friday that the alleged remarks made by Shiv Sena leader Waman Mhatre against a woman journalist were not intended to humiliate her on the basis of caste, while granting him interim protection from arrest.
Mhatre had been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for allegedly making derogatory comments about the journalist during the Badlapur school sexual assault protests.
Mhatre, a member of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, filed an appeal in the High Court on Friday challenging the Kalyan sessions court’s August 29 order, which had denied him pre-arrest bail.
Justice Sandeep Marne observed that, upon reviewing the FIR and the complainant’s statement, it appears, prima facie, that the remarks made by the applicant (Mhatre) were not intended to humiliate the complainant’s caste.
“Considering the nature of the offences alleged against him, I believe the applicant deserves interim protection. Prima facie, it does not appear that the remarks were made to humiliate the complainant’s caste,” the High Court stated.
The Judge further noted that, at most, Mhatre may have made those remarks with the intent to personally humiliate the complainant. “Was it his intention to humiliate her caste? It may have been to humiliate her personally, but can it be said that it was intended to humiliate her caste?” Justice Marne questioned.
The additional public prosecutor informed the court that the accused and the complainant were acquainted, and therefore, he was aware of her caste.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for September 4. “Until the next hearing, in the event of an arrest, he shall be released on anticipatory bail. He is required to appear before the police and cooperate with the investigation,” the court directed.
In his appeal, Mhatre denied the allegations made against him by the journalist, stating that he was merely advising and requesting her not to publish any false information that could further incite protests in Badlapur.
The woman journalist had lodged an FIR against Mhatre on August 21, accusing him of making derogatory and offensive remarks while she was reporting on the protests in Badlapur concerning the sexual assault of two minor schoolgirls by a male attendant.
According to the complaint, Mhatre allegedly remarked that the reporter was acting “as if she herself had been raped.” Mhatre denied this accusation, asserting that he never made any such remark against the journalist as alleged.
