PANAJI: After 10 years, a Panaji court acquitted engineer Devu Chodankar for his social media posts against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 general elections.
The court stated that the benefit of the doubt had to be given to him as the prosecution couldn’t establish offences against him, partly due to the testimony of the complainant, Atul Pai Kane .
Kane, an industrialist and former Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) state president, who filed the complaint against Chodankar with the cybercrime police, stated that he doesn’t wish to proceed with the case.
“No doubt Atul Pai Kane filed the complaint against the accused, but it is pertinent to mention that during the course of his evidence, Atul Pai Kane deposed before the court that he does not wish to proceed with the present matter and that he is deposing out of his own will without any undue influence or coercion. Considering the evidence on record, I am of the view that the benefit of the doubt has to be given to the accused. The prosecution could not establish the offences as alleged against the accused due to the testimony of the complainant,” stated judicial magistrate first class, ‘F’ court, Panaji, Ankita Nagvenkar.
Chodankar was charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, and deliberate and malicious acts of insulting religious beliefs of a class of citizens and promoting hatred between different citizens on the grounds of religion, race, caste, and community. The investigating officer, Rajesh Job, deposed that then SP (cyber crime) Kartik Kashyap sent a letter to Facebook and to the North Goa SP to provide call detail records, which were forwarded to the nodal officer of the mobile service provider.
The court stated that the benefit of the doubt had to be given to him as the prosecution couldn’t establish offences against him, partly due to the testimony of the complainant, Atul Pai Kane .
Kane, an industrialist and former Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) state president, who filed the complaint against Chodankar with the cybercrime police, stated that he doesn’t wish to proceed with the case.
“No doubt Atul Pai Kane filed the complaint against the accused, but it is pertinent to mention that during the course of his evidence, Atul Pai Kane deposed before the court that he does not wish to proceed with the present matter and that he is deposing out of his own will without any undue influence or coercion. Considering the evidence on record, I am of the view that the benefit of the doubt has to be given to the accused. The prosecution could not establish the offences as alleged against the accused due to the testimony of the complainant,” stated judicial magistrate first class, ‘F’ court, Panaji, Ankita Nagvenkar.
Chodankar was charged with promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, and deliberate and malicious acts of insulting religious beliefs of a class of citizens and promoting hatred between different citizens on the grounds of religion, race, caste, and community. The investigating officer, Rajesh Job, deposed that then SP (cyber crime) Kartik Kashyap sent a letter to Facebook and to the North Goa SP to provide call detail records, which were forwarded to the nodal officer of the mobile service provider.
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