The Mumbai Police have ordered a probe by the Assistant Commissioner of Police to investigate the charges against cartoonist Aseem Trivedi to determine if the serious charge of sedition should be applied to him or not.
The Mumbai Additional Commissioner of Police (West Region) Vishwas Nangre-Patil told The Hindu that a team would verify the entire case once again, to verify the cartoonist’s intention behind drawing the cartoons.
PTI
Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who is booked under sedition, walked out of jail, a day after he was granted bail by the Bombay High court in a case where he was accused of sedition and insulting national symbols.
His arrest caused widespread outrage, with civil society leaders and political leaders from across the spectrum rushing to defend his right to free speech, and decrying what they called a government attempt to crack down on dissent.
The police team will submit a report to the court after concluding its investigation.
Senior police officials told the Hindu that the department would think of reviewing and revoking the sedition charges slapped on the cartoonist only after the probe was completed.
“Since it is a serious offence, its review and verification will take some time. We will come to the conclusion of revoking the charges after that,” Mr. Nangre-Patil said. He said the report would be separate from the charge sheet, which would be filed in the case.
