A truck driver jailed for allegedly threatening to kill Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court which considered the accused person's apology and expression of “respect and esteem” towards the Chief Minister.
The accused Amar Pal Yadav has been in jail since September 25, 2020. An FIR was lodged against him on charges of sedition and criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, at the Hazratganj police station here.
The accused allegedly sent a WhatsApp text to UP-112 (dial emergency police services) making indecent comments against the Chief Minister and threatened to kill him if jailed MLA Mukhtar Ansari was not released within 24 hours.
The counsel for the accused submitted that he had nothing to do with Mukhtar Ansari or any other criminal. The accused claimed that while he was eating at a dhaba, some person took his mobile on the pretext of making a call but sent the said WhatsApp message from his phone without his knowledge.
The accused submitted that he realised that such a message had been sent from his phone only when the police arrested him.
In an affidavit submitted by the accused from jail, he stated that he did not send any SMS, was a law-abiding citizen and held the CM in high esteem. He would always abide the law and regretted that such a message had been sent from his mobile.
Considering that the accused “in unequivocal terms has apologized for his phone being misused and, showed his respect and esteem to the Chief Minister, I find it to be a fit case for grant of bail,” said Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh in an order dated January 27.
