Bombay HC.
Credit: PTI file photo.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday granted pre-arrest bail to Shiv Sena leader Waman Mhatre, accused of making offensive remarks against a female journalist while she was reporting on a protest over sexual abuse of two minor girls in Badlapur in Thane district in August.
A single bench of Justice Sandeep Marne said prima facie provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were not made out in the case as Mhatre was not aware or had no intention to comment against the complainant's caste (she belongs to an SC community).
"In my view, prima facie there is room for holding that the offences under provisions of SC & ST Act are not made out against the Appellant (Mhatre)," the HC noted.
Mhatre was booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and also under the SC/ST Act for allegedly making derogatory remarks and gestures against the woman journalist during the August 20 protest at Badlapur railway station over sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls at a school in the town on Mumbai's outskirts.
Mhatre, who belongs to the party led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, had filed an appeal in the HC challenging a Kalyan sessions court order of August 29 refusing him pre-arrest bail.
Justice Marne, in the order, observed that prima facie whether the gestures allegedly made by the former mayor of Badlapur would fit into the expression "gestures of a sexual nature" becomes questionable at this stage.
"The exact gestures made by Appellant (Mhatre) are not reflected in the FIR statement, which merely alleges making of bizarre gestures," the HC maintained.
The complainant was a mere acquaintance of the Shiv Sena politician and prima facie it appears there was no reason for him to have prior knowledge that she belonged to a Scheduled Caste, the bench noted.
"The FIR statement indicates that the concerned utterances and gestures are made by Appellant because he was perturbed by reporting of the incident by complainant and not because she belonged to Scheduled Caste community," the court emphasised.
The HC underscored that the FIR statement prima facie does not indicate that there was any intention on the part of the appellant to humiliate the caste of the complainant. "Therefore, it is doubtful at this stage whether the offence under the SC & ST Act could be made out against the appellant," it added.
The journalist, who works for a Marathi daily, had on August 21 lodged an FIR against Mhatre for allegedly making offensive remarks when she was reporting on the protest over the incident of sexual assault of two minor girls inside their school premises by a male attendant.
As per the complaint, Mhatre allegedly said the reporter was acting "as if she herself had been raped". The Shiv Sena leader, however, denied the scribe's claim and asserted he never uttered any derogatory remark as alleged by her.