Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale arrested for Facebook post against Sharad Pawar, gets bail

Thane: More than a month after she was arrested for allegedly sharing an objectionable post about NCP chief Sharad Pawar on social media, a court in Thane district of Maharashtra on Wednesday granted bail to Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale in connection with the case.

District judge H M Patwardhan granted bail to her on a surety of Rs 20,000.

With this, Chitale will be able to walk out of the Thane central jail, where she is currently lodged, her advocate said. On May 14, 2022, Thane police had arrested Chitale for sharing on Facebook a Marathi verse, which allegedly referred to NCP chief Sharad Pawar in a derogatory way.

Police at Kalwa in Thane had registered the offence against her under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for her post on Pawar.

The offence was registered under section 505 (2) (statements conducting to public mischief), 500 (defamation), 501 (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc). Complainant Swapnil Netke in his complaint had alleged that the post was likely to lead to a trouble between political parties.

Her counsel advocate Yogesh Deshpande, who appeared in the court on behalf of Chitale, said after being granted bail by the court, she will now be released from the jail.

The 29-year-old actor is currently facing over 20 FIRs regarding the Facebook post.

Last week, a court here had granted bail to Chitale in another case registered against her under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in neighbouring Navi Mumbai in 2020.

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