FIR against Isudan Gadhvi after ‘misleading’ tweet on ‘Mann ki Baat’

Gadhvi’s now-deleted tweet came days ahead of the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat livecast on April 30.

The cyber crime branch booked Isudan Gadhvi on April 29. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)

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Police have registered a case against Gujarat Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President Isudan Gadhvi for his alleged tweet claiming Rs 8.3 crore is spent per episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Mann ki Baat”.

“We are investigating the case, verifying if the tweet was actually from the official account (id) of the accused, who tweeted it and the source from where the data for such an information was taken. We will take any action accordingly,” said Jitendra Yadav, Assistant Commissioner of Police at Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch.

The tweet allegedly tweeted by Gadhvi on April 28 morning read, “The cost of one day of Mann ki Baat is Rs 8.3 crores! Just for 100 episodes Rs 830 crores are spent for Mann ki Baat (and) blowing our taxes. This is the limit! BJP workers need to wake and protest about this! A large number (of them) listen to this (programme)!”

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Gadhvi’s now-deleted tweet came days ahead of the 100th episode of Mann Ki Baat livecast on April 30. “This Claim is #Misleading. Rs 8.3 cr is total figure of ads for Mann ki Baat till said date, not for a single episode. Tweet assumes each episode is supported by ads. Which is false,” the fact-check Twitter handle of the Press Information Bureau posted on April 30. The PIB handle also tagged the reported tweet by Gadhvi and declared it “misleading”.

The cyber crime branch booked Gadhvi on April 29 under IPC sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot, if rioting be committed, if not committed), 500 (defamation), 505 (1) (whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report), 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act.

Meanwhile, AAP’s national joint secretary and former Gujarat party chief Gopal Italia claimed the case against Gadhvi was registered on false charges. “Gadhvi has been booked over a tweet. This shows how the BJP fears AAP. The BJP and its government have repeatedly lodged false FIRs against us to stop and break us. But, we will continue to fight,” said Italia.

-With PTI inputs

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