State government cites 'non-cooperation' to seek cancellation of pre-arrest bail for Nagpur media person before Bombay high court

MUMBAI: Days after a Kolhapur court granted urgent pre-arrest bail to Prashant Koratkar, a Nagpur-based media person booked for allegedly causing enmity between communities and other offences based on an alleged audio conversation with a historian, the State govt approached the Bombay High Court for cancellation of the trial court order citing his alleged “non-cooperation cooperation”.
The accused is “not cooperating” with the police and hence “hindering” the probe and “avoiding” attending the office of the investigation officer, “which is causing obstacles in the investigation of the present crime.”
He was granted temporary relief by Kolhapur's additional sessions Judge D V Kashyap. The next hearing before the trial court is scheduled for March 11.
The state public prosecutor, HS Venegaonkar, said the govt and police took the matter “seriously” and “acted promptly to approach the HC.” The state’s petition was filed on Friday and will be mentioned on Monday before a single judge bench.
The Kolhapur court asked Koratkar to surrender his cellphone, which has the SIM card from which the alleged call was made on February 25. The cancellation plea filed by the State through Kolhapur police cited among grounds of the challenge that the accused did not comply with two of the pre-arrest bail conditions imposed on March 1, 2025, “in proper manner as required by the impugned order.”
The two conditions were that he “shall appear before the in-charge of Juna Rajwada police station, Kolhapur, as and when called” and “is further directed to surrender his mobile handset, having SIM card number to the in-charge of Cyber Cell, Nagpur within 48 hours from today.” The petition said a “letter received from Nagpur Cyber Cell” stated he did not appear personally before the in-charge of Cyber Cell Nagpur but instead submitted his mobile phone through his wife.
The state said that the “court while granting the ad-interim bail application, directed that the accused shall make himself available to the investigating officer as and when called. However, till today accused failed to appear in Juna Rajwada Police Station.” The plea before the HC said the “offence is serious in nature and against society.” The accused has allegedly “made controversial and offensive statements against Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and is trying to create discord between castes.”
If the order is “not cancelled, it will affect the case of the prosecution as the accused may dissuade the prosecution witnesses from disclosing the facts known to them about the case, as such the investigation cannot be done effectively and cannot be completed,” the State’s plea said. The trial court order is “bad in law and deserves to be cancelled in the interest of justice,” the State’s application added.