Accused released in Sonakshi Sinha’s morphed photos case:Man arrested over circulation of objectionable images; court questions police procedure

A Mumbai court has ordered the release of a Delhi youth arrested for allegedly making the objectionable edited pictures of Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha viral on social media. Following Sonakshi’s complaint, Mumbai’s Bandra police registered a case and arrested the accused, Aryan Deepak Jain, from Delhi’s Shahdara area. However, the court rejected the police’s request for three days’ custody after finding that the legal procedure had not been followed during the arrest. Police brought him to Mumbai on a direct flight from Delhi According to an India Today report, Bandra police arrested accused Aryan Deepak Jain at around 10:11 a.m. yesterday from the area under the Jagatpuri police station in Delhi’s Shahdara. The police then brought him directly to Mumbai by flight. Bandra police produced the accused before a Mumbai magistrate and sought three days’ police custody. The police argued that they wanted to recover the electronic device allegedly used to create and circulate the objectionable pictures. Court expresses displeasure over failure to produce accused before local magistrate During the hearing, the magistrate questioned the action taken by the Bandra Police. The court asked why the accused was brought directly to Mumbai after being arrested in Delhi without being produced before the nearest magistrate there. The court said the police had not followed the prescribed legal procedure and had also failed to provide any satisfactory reason for the lapse. On this basis, the court refused to grant custody and ordered the accused’s release. Lawyers question legality of arrest The lawyers representing accused Aryan Deepak Jain also challenged the legality of his arrest in court. They argued that before making the arrest, the police neither served the accused with the required notice nor informed him of the reasons for taking him into custody. The defence questioned the police’s haste, saying that Aryan had not committed any crime and that the legal provisions invoked against him were not applicable. Sonakshi had filed a complaint after seeing the edited images The entire case began when actress Sonakshi Sinha saw her objectionably edited images on a social media platform. She then contacted the Mumbai Police and filed a complaint in this regard. Based on the complaint, the Bandra Police registered a case, launched an investigation and arrested the accused in Delhi.