'Will Cooperate With Police': YouTuber Dr Sangram Patil Booked Over FB Post On PM Modi Assures Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday permitted UK-based Doctor and YouTuber Dr Sangram Patil to file an affidavit assuring that even if he is allowed to return to United Kingdom, he will continue co-operating with the ongoing investigations against him for his allegedly defamatory social media post against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders.

Single-judge Justice Ashwin Bhobe allowed Patil to file an affidavit to this effect and ordered the Mumbai Police to consider the request as expeditiously as possible.

This comes after Senior Advocate Rajiv Shakdher, representing Patil, pointed out before the court that his client has already been co-operating with the probe and was last summoned by the Mumbai Police on January 21. He submitted that the FIR lodged against Patil under section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) does not warrant any custodial interrogation and thus his client can be permitted to travel back to UK to resume his services there.

"During the interrogational earlier, the police asked my client to hand over my phone to them but the phone comprised of confidential information of his patients in UK. That is a protected information and thus he did not give his phone. He has his parents living here (in India) so he can be permitted to travel back on the assurance that he will co-operate with the police," the senior counsel submitted.

Maharashtra's Advocate General Milind Sathe, however, opposed the plea on the ground that the police is still enquiring into the connection between Patil and a Facebook page - Shehar Aghadi, which too posted a similar defamatory post on their handle.

This, the AG said would be important as the two posts were likely to create hatred between "the followers" and "the non-followers."

"The offence need not happen, only likelihood is important and must be considered," Sathe submitted.

The matter would be next heard on April 15.