The Uttar Pradesh police booked Congress’ social media chief Divya Spandana for sedition for allegedly calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “thief” in one of her tweets.
A case under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (sedition) and Section 67 of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act was registered in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar police station on Wednesday.
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The case was filed by lawyer Dr Syed Rizvan Ahmed, who alleged that Spandana’s tweet defamed the democratically-elected Prime Minister of the country and incited hatred against him.
In his FIR, a copy of which he posted on Twitter, Ahmed accused Spandana of damaging the image of the nation on the international stage with her tweet against the PM.
Thanking UP police and those who supported him, the lawyer tagged the PM suggesting that his legal team will have to be more alert.
“Twitter friends and me took action because you are the nation’s Prime Minister and not that of a political party,” he wrote.
“Her tweet was derogatory. The PM represents our sovereignty and republic. It is a disgrace to our nation and is contempt,” Ahmad was quoted as saying by ANI.
Spandana had on 24 September posted a tweet containing a morphed picture showing PM Modi writing the word “chor” on the forehead of a statue of him. The tweet had not been deleted at the time of writing.()
Her tweet was in line with the Congress party president Rahul Gandhi’s Tuesday remarks that the PM was a “thief”.
Speaking to media persons on 25 September, the 48-year-old Congress chief accused the PM of favouring Anil Ambani through the Dassault Rafale deal.
“The PM had said I am the ‘chowkidar’ (guard) of the nation. So this chowkidar put the money of the youth and the Air Force in the pockets of Anil Ambani, who has a debt of Rs 45,000 crore on him, just like Vijay Mallya has debt,” Gandhi was quoted as saying by ANI.
Read More: Rahul Gandhi accused PM Modi of ‘theft’; promises ‘justice’ to HAL, IAF
Gandhi said that each time when he asked Modi about why he awarded the contract to Ambani, the PM couldn’t respond and looked away.
“The PM looked here, there, everywhere but did not look me in the eye. Why? Because Narendra Modi has stolen the country’s money and given to Anil Ambani,” the Congress chief said while making gestures.
The selection of Ambani’s Reliance Defence as an offset partner of Dassault has come under a cloud following former French President Francois Hollande’s claim that India didn’t give his country any other choice.