Point of Law:
A Magistrate can himself arrest or order any person to arrest any offender if that offender has committed an offence in his presence and within his local jurisdiction or on his appearance or surrender or is produced before him and take that person (offender), into his custody subject to the bail provisions.

JUDGMENT :

CHANDRA DHARI SINGH, J.

1. Objection filed by the State is taken on record.

2. This bail application has been taken up today through Video Conferencing.

3. The instant application under Section 438 Cr.P.C. has been filed with a prayer for anticipatory bail of the accused-applicant who is involved in FIR No. 268 of 2020, under Sections 188 and 505(2) IPC, Police Station Kotwali Nagar, District Ayodhya.

4. Brief facts of the case are that the applicant is editor of online news portal “The Wire.” As per the prosecution story, the complainant had lodged the FIR on 01.04.2020 in the aforementioned sections alleging therein that the applicant had made a tweet on website Twitter.com which was allegedly defamatory towards the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. The said FIR was lodged on the report published by “The Wire” on 31.03.2020 titled as “Covid-19 Cases Spike in Nizzamuddin Nehru Stadium in Delhi to Become Quarantine Centre” which was also tweeted by the applicant on 31.03.2020 and 01.04.2020. Relevant portion of the tweet is reproduced herein-below:-

“On the day the Tablighi Jamaat event was held. Yogi Adityanath insisted that a large fair planned for Ayodhya on the occasion of Ram Navami from March 25 to April 2 would proceed as usual while Acharya Paramhans said that Lord Ram would protect devotees from the corona virus.

One day after Modi announced the “curfew like” national lockdown on March 24, Adityanath violated the official guidelines to take part in a religious ceremony in Ayodhya along with dozens of people.”

5. The error in the said report was corrected as soon it became known of the applicant and the incorrect version was deleted. FIR was registered on 01.04.2020. The instant application has been filed seeking anticipatory bail of the applicant as an apprehension of arrest in connection of the said FIR.

6. Shri I.B. Singh, learned Senior Advocate has submitted that the said FIR is nothing but an attempt to muzzle free speech and it is also submitted that the report in the said Magzine and Tweeter handle by the applicant is based on statements of facts which was also covered by various other news publications such as Deccan Herald, The Print, NDTV and Economic Times. The said report has never been denied by the Government of U.P. In such circumstances, the learned Senior Advocate has submitted that the applicant has not committed any offence as alleged in the FIR. The FIR is frivolous, malicious and motivated in nature. Furthermore, one small error in the report wherein the statement was wrongly attributed to the Chief Minister of U.P. was corrected as soon it became known and even before the registration of the FIR. It is submitted that any factual inaccuracies are not subject to any criminal action in law, even more so the offences with which the applicant has been charged.

7. Learned Senior Advocate has further submitted that the FIR purportedly relates to the said article and tweets in relation thereto, which are matters of record, so there is no possibility of tampering of evidence and there is no requirement of custodial interrogation. Learned Senior Advocate has further submitted that the applicant is a permanent resident and working in Delhi. He has deep roots in Delhi and his immediate family is also resident of Delhi.

8. Learned Senior Advocate has also submitted that only one offence cited is non-bailable and that too carries the maximum imprisonment of three years, in which arrest is deprecated by Courts and the law. It is further submitted that the news portal i.e. “The Wire” and the applicant were being targeted and harassed by Government of U.P. through U.P. Police in connection with the said article even though the small factual inaccuracy therein has been promptly corrected presumably because the said article shows the U.P. Government's handling Covid-19 crisis in critical light.

9. Learned Senior Advocate has submitted that on 10.04.2020 pursuant to FIR No. 246 of 2020, some policemen of U.P. came to