Journalist Bhawana Gupta, who was arrested by Punjab Police on Friday, has been granted interim bail by Justice Augustine George Masih after a special evening hearing on Saturday. Bhawana and two others had moved the high court for quashing the FIR registered under the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the provisions of the IPC after claiming that the case was "nothing but political witch hunt on State of Punjab’s part”.
Senior advocates RS Rai and Chetan Mittal with counsel Gautam Dutt appeared before the Bench on the petitioners’ behalf. The plea added that the news channel she was working for had been reporting against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly spending Rs 45 crore on constructing/renovating his official residence. "As a counter blast and to teach lesson to the news channel, the present false case has been registered against the petitioners, who are innocent and been framed,” it added.
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Bhawana, who represents a TV news channel, was detained for hours on Friday at Division No 3 police station in Ludhiana, when the car she was riding hit a woman. The arrest came after the news channel reported against the Delhi Chief Minister. Bhawana has accused Kejriwal of being behind the arrest as a counterblast to the news channel's report. The interim bail will remain in operation till Monday at least.