Bombay High Court raps police for detaining cartoonist on sedition charges

The Bombay High Court on Friday lashed out at the Mumbai police for 'arbitrarily' arresting cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on 'frivolous' grounds and wondered why it had not applied its mind while pressing sedition charges against him.

Taking a serious note of the manner in which Trivedi was charged of sedition, the court said prima facie it appeared his arrest was arbitrary. ''What is the government's stand now? Does it intend to drop the charge? Someone has to take political responsibility for this,'' the court warned.

On Tuesday, the court had ordered the release of Trivedi on a personal bond of Rs5,000. The Kanpur-based cartoonist had been arrested on September 8 after a lawyer filed a complaint against him under section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various other acts.

But after a national uproar over Trivedi's arrest, the Mumbai police told a local court that it did not wish to keep him in custody. Another lawyer then filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay High Court, seeking his release.

Trivedi had asserted that he would not apply for bail as long as the sedition charges stood against him.

On Friday, the Bombay High Court told the prosecution that it intended to lay down guidelines for the application of sedition charges to ensure that the liberties of an individual were not encroached. ''We have one Aseem Trivedi who was courageous enough to raise his voice and stand against this, but what about several others whose voices are shut by police?'' demanded the court.