The International Press Institute welcomed the release on bail of Indian cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, on Sep. 12 and urged Indian authorities to drop all charges against him. Trivedi was arrested on Saturday evening and charged with sedition over a series of cartoons he produced for an anti-corruption campaign.
Local newspaper The Hindustan Times reported that local lawyer Sanskar Marathe introduced a public-interest litigation (PIL) on grounds that his arrest was “illegal, bad in law, and unjustified”.
The high court has granted an ad-interim order that Trivedi be released on execution of a personal bail-bond of Rs. 5,000 (approx. 90 US Dollars). The court has posted the PIL for a further hearing on Sep. 17.
The court further contended that his continued detention was unnecessary considering he had been charged for drawing cartoons.
Trivedi’s arrest has been condemned by local groups and individuals, in particular Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil, who told local reporters that he believed that “[t]here was no need to seek police custody”.
According to local reports, a Special Investigations Team (SIT), headed by assistant commissioner of police Namdev Chavan has been commissioned to investigate Trivedi’s case.
The commissioner of police Datyapal Singh told local media that, “[t]echnically, one cannot say there was any mistake on part of the police. The home minister has asked for review by senior officials and we are doing it.”
On Monday, IPI condemned Trivedi’s arrest, which the organisation saw as a “breach of press freedom and a blow to India’s democratic principles.” IPI’s Indian National Committee, N. Ravi, pointed out that “The basic thrust of the cartoons was to mock at the pretensions of politicians and the bureaucrats, and while one may disagree with the message or with the mode of depiction, there is certainly no cause for regarding them as criminal acts.”