A Bengaluru Court on Tuesday sentenced actor and social activist Chetan Kumar to 14 days in judicial custody alleged of hurting religious emotions.
Additional Metropolitan Magistrate J Latha heard Chetan’s bail plea before adjourning it for March 23.
The case started from a First Information Report (FIR) filed at Seshadripur police station for a violation of IPC Section 295A (inciting religious emotions), based on a complaint registered by one Shivakumar of Bangalore.
According to the FIR, Chetan was detained by police on Tuesday morning and brought before a magistrate, following which he was sent to judicial custody.
The allegation pointed to tweets by Chetan which indicated that “Hindutva is built on lies”. His other tweets expressed concern “for the most marginalized and selfless courage displayed in Mahad Satyagraha.”
The complainant stated that Chetan provoked communal violence by hurting the religious sensibilities of the majority of Hindus through his tweets.
Last year, the actor was charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for tweeting against Justice Krishna Dixit of the Karnataka High Court, who was part of the bench hearing the hijab ban case.
The tweet stated that Justice Dixit, who had made alarming statements in a rape case, is now determining whether hijabs are appropriate in government schools, and questioned whether he has the clarity to do so.
Chetan was given bail in the case later on.
