Raipur: Kalicharan Maharaj alias Abhijeet Dhananjay Saraag, the controversial Hindu seer arrested in December in a sedition case registered against him for derogatory comments against Mahatma Gandhi, has been granted bail by the Chhattisgarh high court on Friday.
Justice Arvind Singh Chandel of the high court’s Bilaspur bench ordered Kalicharan release on bail on furnishing a personal bond of ₹1 lakh with two sureties of ₹50,000 each, his counsel Kishore Bhaduri said, according to PTI.
Kalicharan was arrested after the Chhattisgarh Police registered an FIR against Kalicharan Maharaj under sections 505 (2) (making statement that create or promotes enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 294 (obscene acts) for allegedly using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi. Later, police added 124 A (sedition) and four other sections of the IPC in the case.
In December last year, during the conclusion of the two-day ‘dharma sansad’ (religious parliament) in Raipur, the seer allegedly used abusive words for Mahatma Gandhi, and asked people to elect a staunch Hindu leader as the head of the government to protect the religion.
“The applicant has been falsely implicated in this case due to political rivalry. The offence under Section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code is prima facie not made out against the applicant. The decisive ingredients for establishing the offence is missing in the First Information Report, there is no suggestion that the applicant did anything as against the government of Chhattisgarh, Government of India or any other Governments of States. The complaint filed against the applicant contains no averment that the applicant did anything as against the governments,” Kalicharan’s lawyer argued.
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