Filmmaker Avinash Das moves SC against pre-arrest bail rejection in case of insulting tricolour

New Delhi: A filmmaker has moved the Supreme Court against rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in a case registered by the Gujarat Police for sharing a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with an arrested IAS officer and a painting allegedly insulting the national flag on social media platforms.

The plea by Avinash Das has challenged the June 27, 2022 order of the Gujarat High Court which had observed that he violated the provisions of the Prevention of Insults to the National Honour Act by circulating a painting showing a person wearing a dress made of the tricolour.

In his plea before the top court, Das contended that the high court has “erroneously” dismissed the anticipatory application without considering the merits which injure the rights vested under Article 21.

“The high court erred in failing to appreciate that the Petitioner did not share the picture in question with the intention to disrespect the National Flag.

“The perusal of the picture in the question itself reveals that such picture, which is actually a painting, does not intend to bring down the dignity of the National Flag,” the plea filed through advocate Smarhar Singh said.

Das said he merely shared the picture which has actually been painted by some other artist, the intentions and motive of the artist, even if disrespectful, cannot be ascribed to him.

The petition stated that the petitioner has no criminal antecedents and that there is no likelihood of committing similar alleged offences and fleeing from the process of law.

Das had approached the HC after a sessions court here rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Before that, the Bombay High Court had rejected his transit anticipatory bail application.

The Ahmedabad city crime branch had registered an FIR against the 46-year-old filmmaker after he recently shared an old photo showing suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Puja Singhal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, whispering something to Shah.

As per the FIR, Das claimed in the caption of the photo that it was taken a few days before Singhal's arrest last month though the picture dates back to 2017. This was done with the intention to tarnish Shah's image.

He was also booked for allegedly insulting national honour by sharing a photo on his Instagram and Facebook accounts of a woman wearing the tricolour. The offence, if established, invites a maximum jail term of three years.

The filmmaker was booked under section 469 of the IPC (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) for sharing the photo featuring Shah and the tainted bureaucrat and section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and also the Information Technology Act.

Das directed the 2017 film 'Anaarkali of Aarah', starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, and 'Raat Baaki Hai', which was released in  2021. He has also helmed a Netflix series called "She".