Bilaspur: The HC today hearing the bail plea of Kalicharan Maharaj who is in police custody for the past three months on charges of allegedly passing defamatory comments on the Father of the Nation- Mahatma Gandhi, reserved the decision. The Hindu priest from Maharashtra also justified the act of killing Gandhi from the stage of Dharam Sansad organised in Chhattisgarh capital on December 26 last year.
The case was heard on Monday by a single bench of Justice Arvind Singh Chandel. Arguing for the accused, the Senior Advocate citing decisions of the SC in cases, stated the freedom of speech under the constitution. As per the constitution, the govt cannot impose criminal penalties or civil sanctions on citizens based on what they say or write. While the opposition claimed, Kalicharan shows no remorse for his statements and if given bail would spread communalism.
The Raipur police on the 30th March filed a 50-page challan against the controversial Seer Kalicharan in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM).
An FIR was lodged against the seer in Raipur after which the state police arrested him from a lodge in Khajuraho (MP). The Raipur police had slapped IPC Section 124-A (sedition), 153A (creating enmity between two groups), 295A (deliberate malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings), 505(1)(b) (cause, fear or alarm to the public) against the Seer.