Prashant Koratkar, booked for remarks against Shivaji Maharaj, arrested in Telangana
The Maharashtra government informs the Bombay High Court of Prashant Koratkar’s arrest after he approaches the court for anticipatory bail.
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The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it arrested former journalist Prashant Koratkar, who was booked over alleged objectionable remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, from Telangana.
Public Prosecutor Hiten Venegaonkar informed a single-judge bench of Justice Rajesh S Patil that Koratkar was arrested on Monday afternoon in Telangana and that his anticipatory bail plea would therefore become infructuous.
Koratkar approached the high court after the Kolhapur sessions court rejected his pre-arrest bail plea on March 18. The high court disposed of Koratkar’s pre-arrest bail plea as he withdrew it and granted him liberty to file an appropriate bail application in due course.
Koratkar was booked by the Kolhapur police on February 25 based on an audio conversation with historian Indrajit Sawant. He is accused of making a threat call to Sawant. While countering Sawant’s version of the Maratha king’s history, Koratkar reportedly used abusive language and made derogatory remarks about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
On March 1, Kolhapur Additional Sessions Judge D V Kashyap granted interim protection from arrest to Koratkar until March 11, with the condition that he appear before the police and surrender his mobile phone along with the SIM card used in the call.
The state government later filed an application in the high court challenging the March 1 order, stating that the Kolhapur court had passed the order and made certain observations without hearing the police.
In the interim order, the judge observed that documents submitted by Koratkar showed that his Instagram and Facebook accounts had been hacked before the registration of the crime and that some donation amount was collected on his behalf. However, the state claimed that Koratkar had surrendered his handset through his wife, instead of personally submitting it as per the court order, raising concerns about his conduct.
Moreover, the state lawyer said the mobile phone contained no data and appeared to have been formatted, adding that his physical interrogation was therefore required to recover crucial data. The high court directed the sessions court to hear all parties concerned and decide the matter on its own merits.
On March 18, the sessions judge observed that “deletion of data at the hands of the applicant (Koratkar) amounts to destroying evidence,” and that “conditions imposed on the accused to surrender his mobile with SIM card were not followed by him in true spirit”.
The court had also said that “call data records (CDR) prima facie show that on February 25, two calls were made from the mobile number of the applicant (Koratkar) to the mobile number of the informant (Sawant)”.
The court had added that Koratkar’s physical custody was required for “advancement in investigation”.
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