NCW poses tough questions to Maha cops over actress Ketaki Chitale case

During the hearing, the Commission sought an explanation from DGP Bharambe on different points including, why the provision of defamation was invoked in the FIR and who the complainant was, why action was taken only against Ketaki Chitale despite the poem being shared by multiple people previously, and whether legal procedure as enumerated in section 41A of CrPC was followed before arresting her.

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women (NCW) held a hearing today in the matter of Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale who was arrested for allegedly uploading a social media post against Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma chaired the hearing. Milind Bharambe, Spl. IG (L&O) appeared before the Commission on behalf of the Director-General of Police, Maharashtra. According to a press note issued by NCW on Friday, during the hearing, the Commission sought an explanation from Bharambe on different points including, why the provision of defamation was invoked in the FIR and who the complainant was, why action was taken only against Ketaki Chitale despite the poem being shared by multiple people previously, and whether legal procedure as enumerated in section 41A of CrPC was followed before arresting her.

The Commission also sought an explanation on what action was taken by the police against the female NCP leaders who attacked Ketaki outside a police station, why section 66A, already struck down by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, was invoked in this particular matter and the proceedings initiated by Maharashtra police in several other cases that have been recently reported to have taken place due to political vendetta. The Commission issued further directions to Bharambe for immediate compliance including sending an explanation on why the arrest was made even before doing a preliminary investigation.

As per Section 41A of CrPC, police are supposed to give notice to the accused before arrest and prior permission is to be taken from the Magistrate in non-cognizable cases. However, the police failed to comply with this mandatory provision of law. The Commission also observed that in non-cognizable cases the police cannot arrest without a warrant but in this case, no warrant was issued. The Commission also directed that the police should not act based on political vendetta but should rather proceed in an unbiased manner in every matter. The Commission has also sought the list of cases that were registered during the last year based on online defamatory statements along with their status reports.

Copies of some of the cases which have been brought to the notice of the Commission have also been shared with the Spl. IG (L&O) during the hearing and the status report on all those matters has been sought within 15 days. The matter has been adjourned until the next course of action, a statement from the National Commission for Women read.