P.C. :

1. Heard Mr. Pawar, learned Advocate appointed through legal aid to espouse the cause of Petitioner and Ms. Newton, learned APP for Respondent No.1.

2. The Petitioner is a 45 year old person who has been indicted in the present crime under Section 66(C) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and Sections 500 and 419 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 for impersonating and putting on Twitter certain objectionable and defamatory messages which are the subject matter of Complaint with regard to certain high-ranking officials working in HPCL and also against the Central Union Minister for Petroleum. The General Manager of HPCL is Complainant in the present case.

3. This order is dictated in open Court after giving a detailed hearing to Mr. Pawar.

4. With the assistance of the Legal Aid appointed Advocate, I have perused the record of the case.

5. This case came to be listed before Court only because the Petitioner addressed an email to the Honorable the Chief Justice of India and the Honorable the Chief Justice of this Court on 06.08.2026 which was followed by a series of emails, the last two emails being that of 29.08.2026 and 21.10.2026 addressed to the Registrar General of this Court wherein it was stated that despite the praecipes filed by his appointed Advocate, the matter was not listed since July 2025 and the continued non-listing was causing him serious prejudice and Trial Court was proceeding with the Petitioner's case.

6. There is also a letter dated 16.09.2026 received by the Section Officer of the Index Branch of this Court which is addressed to the Registrar, Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction of this Court by the Petitioner. This letter is dated 09.09.2026. It was received by post. In that letter the Petitioner has stated that he is experiencing suicidal thoughts due to his medical condition and therefore the said letters and the emails were placed before me and that is how the present matter is listed today.

7. With the able assistance of his Advocate, Mr. Pawar, who is the appointed Advocate, I have perused the entire papers. It is seen that Petitioner is 45 years old having two children and presently living in New Delhi. It is also seen from the records that he was working in HPCL but has been discharged and terminated from service of the Corporation by order dated 15.11.2021 after a detailed inquiry against him for very serious derelictions. The order of discharge dated 15.11.2021 is appended at page Nos.23 to 40 and I have perused the same. It appears from pleadings that after his discharge from the Corporation and after losing his job, the Petitioner is probably not keeping well. That is also what is argued by his appointed Advocate.

8. He has addressed letters to this Court copies of which are placed on record which are addressed to the Registrar seeking legal aid on the ground that he is a person suffering from mental health ailment, is financially incapacitated, staying in New Delhi and that he cannot come to Mumbai due to his financial constraints. Therefore, Mr. Pawar has been appointed to represent him. There is no independent verification of this aspect, neither about his health condition save and except for a solitary letter issued in the year 2020. What criteria has been applied by this Court's office to provide him Legal Aid Counsel and whether he is eligible and entitled for the same is also not clear from the record placed before Court.

9. In the aforesaid factual background in so far as the present case is concerned, the Petitioner has admitted that he has committed the offense and has soug