‘No chance of him fleeing from justice’: Kolhapur court grants bail to Koratkar

Kolhapur: A sessions court on Wednesday granted a conditional bail to Nagpur journalist Prashant Koratkar, who is facing trial for promoting enmity between different groups and outraging religious feelings, among other charges.
Koratkar is accused of threatening Kolhapur-based historian Indrajit Sawant over a phone call and making objectionable comments about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj during his call that tended to promote enmity between two communities.
"Looking at the nature and gravity of the offences against the accused (Koratkar) and the maximum punishment provided for the same, this court is of the view that it is not just to keep the accused in jail till conclusion of the trial. He is entitled to get bail with stringent conditions," additional sessions judge D V Kashyap said.
The sessions judge ordered Koratkar's release on the latter furnishing a personal bond of Rs50,000 and a surety in the like amount. To ensure that Koratkar does not repeat the offence, the court set conditions like restraining him from directly or indirectly threatening the complainant (Sawant) or the witnesses in the case.
"He shall appear before the officer in-charge of Juna Rajwada police station as and when called till filing of the chargesheet," the court said.
Koratkar is expected to walk out of Kolhapur's Kalamba jail on Thursday after completing the bail formalities before a judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) trying the case.
Sawant's lawyer Asim Sarode said, "We will observe Koratkar's conduct. If we come across anything that violates the bail conditions, we will move the court to cancel the bail."
Judge Kashyap held, "The material against the accused is in the form of electronic evidence. There are least chances of him to tamper with them."
The maximum punishment for the offences invoked against him range from one year to three years and are triable by a magisterial court, the judge noted.
"…., the mobile handset and the sim card in it are surrendered by the accused before the police. A voice sample of the informant (Sawant) is taken. A voice sample of the accused is also taken after his arrest. The learned magistrate remanded the accused in police custody for six days and during this period the accused was thoroughly interrogated. Thus, the investigation in the crime is almost completed," the judge noted.
"The prosecution has not produced any record regarding criminal antecedents of the accused. The address mentioned by the accused shows that he is permanent resident of Nagpur. Thus, there are no chances of him fleeing from justice," the court said.
In the case registered on Feb 25, the Juna Rajwada police have invoked charges under sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 241 (destruction of document or electronic record to prevent its production as evidence), 302 (uttering words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of BNS against Koratkar.
The police arrested Koratkar on March 25 from a railway station in Telangana. He was in police custody till March 30 before being sent to jail under court custody. On April 1, JMFC S S Tat had rejected his bail plea.