Sedition Case: Interim Anticipatory Bail for Lakshadweep Filmmaker

Kerala HC also asked Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana to cooperate & appear before the police for interrogation.

The Lakshadweep Police on 10 June, Thursday, booked film activist Aisha Sultana for allegedly calling the Union Territory’s administrator Praful K Patel a ‘bio-weapon’.

(Photo: Facebook/Aisha Sultana)

The Kerala High Court on Thursday, 17 June, granted interim anticipatory bail for one week to Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha Sultana in connection with a sedition case filed against her.

While granting her interim protection from arrest, the single judge bench of Justice Ashok Menon also asked the filmmaker to cooperate and appear before the police for interrogation.

The judgment on the plea by Sultana for anticipatory bail has been reserved. The filmmaker had moved the Kerala High Court earlier this week after she was booked on charges of sedition following her criticism of Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel and her 'bioweapon' remark.

The Lakshadweep Police had filed an FIR against her on 8 June after a complaint by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president in the Union territory alleged that she spread 'false news about the spread of COVID-19' in the UT during a TV debate.

In her application, Sultana reportedly stated, "With the appointment of the new administrator he brought in several new amendments, modifications and relaxations in the administration rules. It is submitted that these actions of the administration have invited tremendous opposition from the natives as well as from the people across the globe. Lakshadweep is now seeing an exponential rise in COVID-19 patients, the primitive healthcare system and geography of the area is adding to the number of deaths in the place. It was in this context that the applicant was invited for the discussion, and it was while explaining the said situation that such a remark was allegedly made by the applicant."

Protests Against Lakshadweep Administrator

Lakshadweep has been in the limelight over the last few weeks, as enormous protests have erupted over Administrator Patel's introduction of certain draft regulations that have been judged as violating the ethos of the indigenous population.

The residents have been seeking repeal of the proposed Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, the Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation (PASA or the Goondas Act), and the Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation (LAPR).

(With inputs from Bar and Bench and The News Minute.)