Daijiworld Media Network (SR)

New Delhi, Jun 11: The Supreme Court on Tuesday, June 11, after hearing the case of journalist Prashant Kanojia, who was arrested by UP police for posting a tweet against CM Yogi Adityanath, asked the government to release him without any delay.

The court also asked the government to clarify on what circumstances and provisions the arrest was made.

A vacation bench including Justices Indira Banerjee and Ajay Rastogi heard the case that was filed by Kanojia's wife Jagisha Arora requesting for an urgent plea on the ‘illegal’ and ‘unconstitutional’ arrest of her husband.

An FIR was registered against Kanojia at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for sharing an objectionable post along with a video against UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Twitter and Facebook. In the video, a woman is seen speaking to reporters claiming that she had sent a marriage proposal to the CM.

Though the Uttar Pradesh government countered the bail application filed by Kanojia's wife, the Supreme Court slammed the arguments and said, "Have you ever come across remand for 11 days in such a case? Sit behind the bars day after day and challenge the order? That is not a very fair stand."

Meanwhile, the Yogi Adityanath government has opposed Prashant Kanojia's bail plea and said that they have checked his Twitter profile and found that he has been posting provocative content against God and religion. They argued that he has also tweeted about politicians and other public personalities.

However, the Supreme Court said, "A citizen's right to liberty has been infringed. We have gone through the records. Opinions may vary; this sort of thing should not have been published. But why arrest?"