Student held in Clubhouse case gets bail

A magistrate court in Bandra on Thursday granted bail to an 18year-old student from Haryana in his second attempt at securing bail. He was arrested in January this year in the Clubhouse app case in connection with objectionable comments against Muslim women in the audio app’s chatroom.

Akash Suyal, a Class 12 student at a Delhi Public School, had claimed bail on the grounds that the investigation is complete in the matter, the chargesheet has been filed and hence, that his custody was no longer required. The plea filed through advocates Akshay Bafna and Gayatri Gokhale said, his father had been martyred while serving in the army in 2021, that he has clean antecedents and was made a scapegoat in the case. He is the only support of his mother who is a homemaker, added.

The application also sought relief on parity, as the youth claimed that he is the youngest of those booked in the case and those with a similar role as him had been granted bail. He said he is a bright student and is currently in prison with persons accused of serious crimes like murder and rape. His mental state had already deteriorated due to custody and further incarceration would spoil his future, his advocates had said in the plea.

As per the complaint lodged at the BKC cyber police station, lewd remarks were passed against the complainant and other women in the chatroom created by Suyal. He was booked under provisions of the IPC Section 153A (creating enmity between different groups), Section 295A (deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 354A (sexual harassment) and under provisions of the IT Act among other offences.