Filmmaker Avinash Das sent to one-day police custody

Das was arrested for his posts on social media which allegedly insulted the national flag and tarnished the reputation of Amit Shah

Director Avinash Das in Ahmedabad Crime Branch custody. Credit: DH Photo/Satish Jha

A metropolitan court on Wednesday sent filmmaker Avinash Das to one-day police custody for investigation. Earlier in the day, police said that after bringing him from Mumbai on Tuesday night, he was formally arrested at 4 am and was produced before the court later in the evening.

Das was arrested in a criminal case for his posts on social media which are alleged to have insulted the national flag and tarnished the reputation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Das is a former journalist and hails from Darbhanga in Bihar. He shot to fame for directing critically acclaimed movie, Anaarkali of Aarah and web series She.

"We detained him in Mumbai on Tuesday and arrested today morning at 4. He has been booked under Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCB, Chaitanya Mandlik in a press conference.

According to the FIR, on March 17, Das posted a picture on his Facebook and Instagram accounts of a woman wearing the national flag. On May 8, he is said to have uploaded another picture showing controversial IAS officer Puja Singhal "whispering something" to Amit Shah's ear. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested Singhal in a money laundering case.

Das is alleged to have written a caption which stated ‘’It is a picture from few days back when crores of amount was recovered from the house of Puja Singhal’’. However, the case documents stated that "upon verifying the same by the complainant, it is found that the said picture is of the year 2017, when the Home Minister had visited the

state of Jharkhand."

On May 14, DCB booked Das for offences punishable under section 469 of Indian Penal Code (forgery for the purpose of harming reputation), section 67 of Information and Technology Act and section-2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act. The FIR was filed on the basis of a complaint of police sub-inspector, K P Patel, posted with wireless service, a branch of DCB.

Das had moved sessions and high court for anticipatory bail which were rejected. While rejecting his anticipatory bail, a sessions court had observed, "It appears that with a view to damage the reputation and dignity of the nation, the applicant-accused Avinash Das uploaded a picture of a woman wearing the national flag upon her body and that woman appears to be nude in the photograph and thereby, he had insulted the Indian culture as well as evoked a feeling of hatred amongst the people of the country. It is important to note that uploading this photograph on Instagram and Facebook shows his mental perverseness."

On Das's post of the picture of Amit Shah with Singhal, the court remarked, "It is important to note that the photograph of IAS officer with Home Minister of country dated long back. Still he tweeted the same on social media after a sizable amount of currency note was found from IAS Puja Singhal. Therefore, the applicant-accused having knowledge that it was not recent, posted the picture with an intent to tarnish the image of Hon’ble Home Minister."

The Gujarat high court had noted while rejecting his plea, "The impact and fall out of grant of anticipatory bail is also required to be considered by this Court in as much as since the allegation against the applicant is of having insulted or caused indignity to the Indian National Flag. There is a big possibility of a large section of people, who have immense respect for the National Flag, being anguished by release of the present applicant."