Mumbai Islamic preacher gets bail in hate speech case

A court in Gujarat's Junagadh district on Wednesday granted bail to Islamic preacher Mufti Salman Azhari and two others in connection with a 'hate speech' case registered against them.

Chief Judicial Magistrate SA Pathan granted bail to Mumbai-based Azhari and two other persons -- both local residents who had organised the religious event in Junagadh on January 31 where the preacher allegedly delivered an inflammatory speech.

As soon as Azhari and his co-accused, Mohammad Yousuf Malek and Azim Habib Odedara, were produced before the court after their one-day police remand ended at 4 pm and sent in judicial custody, their lawyers moved pleas for their regular bail.

After hearing both sides, the court granted them bail on a bond of Rs 15,000 each, Azhari's lawyer Shakil Sheikh said.

Azhari was arrested by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) from Mumbai on Sunday and brought to the state on a transit remand in connection with a first information report (FIR) registered against him and two organisers of a religious event after a video of an inflammatory speech allegedly delivered by the Islamic preacher in Junagadh on the night of January 31 went viral on social media.

On Tuesday, the Junagadh court had sent the trio to one-day police custody as against the 10-day remand sought by the local crime branch, which is probing the case.

"After hearing both sides, the court accepted the bail applications of all three accused on a bail bond of Rs 15,000 each," Sheikh told media persons.

Among the bail conditions imposed by the court are that they cannot leave the country without its permission, will not destroy evidence and provide their residential addresses to the court, among others, he said.

Azhari has been named as an accused in another FIR lodged by the Kutch police for allegedly giving an inflammatory speech at a religious function at Samakhiari town in the district on January 31 (both events took place the same day).

Among the arguments put forward by Azhari's lawyer while seeking his bail was that the words used in his speech do not target any particular community or cause any adverse impact on the community.

The government opposed their bail applications.

After the video went viral, an FIR was registered in Junagadh against Azhari and local organizers Malek and Odedara under Indian Penal Code sections 153B (promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief).