Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, facing sedition charges, was today granted bail by the Bombay High Court and his associate said he will walk out of the Arthur Road jail.
Trivedi will come out of jail at around 3 pm, India Against Corruption (IAC) member Mayank Gandhi told reporters outside the prison after meeting Trivedi. Gandhi, who met the cartoonist in the jail tonight, said the prison authorities have received the court order related to bail. The Kanpur-based artist was initially reluctant to come out of jail unless all charges levelled against him are dropped, the IAC member said.
However, since State Home Minister R R Patil has promised to get the sedition charge dropped and to show respect to the court Trivedi has decided to come out of jail, Gandhi said. Patil had earlier told reporters that he would seek the opinion of the Law department on the sedition charge. “After getting the details, we shall take a decision on the issue of withdrawing the sedition charge on the cartoonist,” he said. The High Court while granting him bail observed that if drawing cartoons was the only allegation against him, then his custody was not required.
The division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar directed Trivedi to be released on execution of a personal bail-bond of Rs 5,000.The bail order was passed by the bench upon a public interest litigation by city-based lawyer Sanskar Marathe, who sought Trivedi’s release because his arrest was “illegal, bad in law, and unjustified”.
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