Actor Payal Rohatgi sent to eight-day judicial custody

KOTA: The additional chief judicial magistrate (ACJM) court of Bundi sent on Monday actor Payal Rohatgi to jail until December 24. Rohatgi was detained in her Ahmedabad house on Sunday, brought to Bundi on Monday and arrested there on charges of posting objectionable content on social media against the Nehrugandhi family a few months ago, police said.

The actor applied for anticipatory bail in district and sessions court on December 13 but her plea could not be heard on Saturday and was deferred for hearing to Monday. However, before it could be heard, Bundi police arrested her and produced her before the ACJM’S court. Rohatgi’s lawyer, Bhupendra Sahay Saxena, sought bail for the actor but the court turned this down and sent her to jail until

December 24.

Saxena filed the bail application in sessions court immediately after this. The application will be heard on Tuesday, he said.

The actor’s counsel raised the issue of freedom of expression and questioned Bundi police’s jurisdiction because the video was made in Ahmedabad. “The content of Payal’s video was taken from the excerpts of the book of MO Mathai who was the personal assistant of former PM Jawahar Lal Nehru. The book is not prohibited,” he said.

Youth Congress state general secretary Charmesh Sharma registered a case against the actor at on October 2 under section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducting to public mischief) of the IPC and section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Information and Technology Act.