Mumbai: A Mumbai court here Thursday granted bail to the television journalist arrested for allegedly ‘spreading misinformation’ regarding migrant workers. In the report the journalist had said that the government was thinking of starting train services to ferry migrants. It allegedly led to a huge crowd gathering in Bandra here.
Rahul Kulkarni, the journalist with a Marathi news channel, was arrested Wednesday by the Mumbai Police. It came a day after migrant workers gathered near Bandra railway station demanding they be sent back home.
Court arguments
Kulkarni was produced Thursday before Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court of PB Yerlekar, where the police sought his custody. Police told the court that the probe revealed that the accused had a role in the crime. The accused was arrested since he was not cooperating in the investigation, the police said.
The court, however, refused to entertain the police’s plea. It remanded Kulkarni in judicial custody, following which his advocate Subodh Desai immediately filed a bail application.
Desai argued that there is no connection between the report which was aired by the channel and the assembly of the migrant workers. He pointed out that the journalist had filed the report based on a genuine letter, which he had accessed.
The said news was carried in the morning. However, later at 10am Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation extending the lockdown. The channel then ran reports on the extension of lockdown and cancellation of trains till May 3. Therefore the gathering, which occurred hours later, cannot be linked to the news report of the journalist, the lawyer argued.
Finding merit in the argument, the court granted bail to the accused on a surety of Rs 15,000. Ten others arrested in the case were remanded in police custody till April 19.
According to police, Kulkarni allegedly gave a ‘false’ story. He said the Railways were going to start special trains to ferry migrant workers stranded in Maharashtra back to their native states.
Shiv Sena hails court decision
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut hailed the court’s decision to grant bail to Kulkarni. He said the arrest of the journalist in connection with the gathering of migrants in Bandra was unfortunate. Talking to a news channel, Raut said the government and media were both important pillars of democracy.
“Both sides should be alert that such an incident should not happen again. I am happy journalist Rahul Kulkarni got bail. The police should find out truth into the charges on which he was arrested,” the Rajya Sabha member said.
Agencies