Journalist Prashant Kanojia, arrested earlier for social media post against Yogi Adityanath, released on bail

Journalist Prashant Kanojia, arrested for allegedly making objectionable comments on social media against Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, was on Wednesday released on bail from Lucknow jail. The Supreme Court on Tuesday had ordered the immediate release on bail of the journalist. The apex court had said that the fundamental right to liberty is “sacrosanct” and “non-negotiable”. The apex court had clarified, however, that granting bail to Kanojia cannot be construed as approval of the posts or tweets. [caption id=“attachment_6802201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Journalist Prashant Kanojia was released on bail. 101Reporters[/caption] The order is being passed in “view of the excessiveness of the action taken”, it said, making it clear that the proceedings against the journalist will go on as per the law. The top court lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government for arresting the scribe and observed that fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution cannot be infringed upon by the state. “Maybe, we don’t appreciate these tweets, but the question is whether he should be behind bars for these social media posts,” it said after perusing the tweets. It was a “glaring case of deprivation of liberty” as Kanojia had been remanded to almost two-week judicial custody for putting up posts or tweets in social media, a vacation bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi had said. The bench was hearing a habeas corpus petition (a writ for producing a person who is under arrest or in unlawful detention before a court) filed by Kanojia’s wife, Jagisha Arora, challenging his arrest. “We direct that the petitioner’s husband be immediately released on bail on conditions to the satisfaction of the jurisdictional Chief Judicial Magistrate. It is made clear that this order is not to be construed as an approval of the posts/tweets in the social media. This order is passed in view of the excessiveness of the action taken,” the bench had said in its order. Kanojia had allegedly shared a video on Twitter and Facebook wherein a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organisations outside the chief minister’s office in Lucknow, claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to Adityanath. With inputs from PTI