Don't act on the basis of political vendetta: NCW to police on actor Ketaki Chitale's arrest over Sharad Pawar post

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Friday held a hearing on Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale's arrest for allegedly sharing on social media an objectionable post about NCP chief Sharad Pawar and said the police should not act based on political vendetta.

Milind Bharambe, Special IG (law and order), appeared before the panel on behalf of the Maharashtra police chief. NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma chaired the hearing.

The panel said that during the hearing, it sought Bharambe's explanation on why the defamation provision was invoked in the FIR and who was the complainant, why action was taken only against Ketki despite the post being shared by many people previously, and whether proper legal procedure was followed before arresting her.

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The NCW sought to know what action was taken by the police against the women NCP leaders who attacked Ketaki outside a police station, and why the IT Act's section 66A, already struck down by the Supreme Court, was invoked in this matter.

It also questioned Bharambe about the proceedings initiated by the Maharashtra police in several other cases that have been recently reported to have taken place due to political vendetta.

"The commission issued directions to Bharambe for immediate compliance, including sending an explanation on why the arrest was made even before doing a preliminary investigation.

"Under Section 41 A of CrPC, the police is supposed to give notice to the accused before arrest and prior permission is to be taken from a magistrate in non-cognizable cases. However, the police failed to comply with this mandatory provision of law," the NCW said in a statement.

The NCW also observed that in non-cognizable cases the police cannot make an arrest without a warrant but in this case, no warrant was issued. It also directed the police not to act based on political vendetta but rather proceed in an unbiased manner, the statement said.

The commission has also sought the list of cases which were registered during the last one year based on online defamatory statements along with their status reports. The matter has been adjourned until the next course of action, the statement said.

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