Pune: Additional sessions judge S U Wadgaonkar on Wednesday granted bail to city-based social media activist Santosh Pandit, arrested in connection with allegations of making obscene and sexually suggestive remarks against Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil and a woman corporator of Pune Municipal Corporation.The court noted that the offences invoked carried a maximum punishment of three years and held that the prosecution’s remaining efforts to obtain evidence could be undertaken without keeping Pandit in detention.According to the FIR registered at Kothrud police station, a woman (36) had viewed videos uploaded by Pandit on YouTube containing allegedly obscene and sexually suggestive remarks regarding Patil and the woman corporator. The FIR also referred to earlier videos in which similar remarks were allegedly made regarding the chief minister.The prosecution and the informant opposed bail, submitting that Pandit had repeatedly made sexually coloured remarks on social media and that his account remained active. They also cited apprehensions of him influencing or intimidating the complainant and witnesses, besides submitting that the role of other persons and financial transactions required investigation and CDRs were yet to be obtained.The court noted that the uploaded videos and posts were already with the investigating officer. “Whether there was a deliberate intention or it was made in ordinary course will be tested during the course of trial,” the judge observed.Pandit was arrested from his residence in the night intervening Sept 2-3. He was subsequently remanded in judicial custody.
