Sudduluri Ajay Amruth v. State of Andhra Pradesh
In the High Court of Andhra Pradesh
Cr. P. 7298/2021
Before Justice D. Ramesh
Decided on January 6, 2022

Relevancy of the case:  Bail application in a case involving the posting of scandalising tweets against the sitting High Court judges

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 67)
• The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Section 153A, 504, 505(2), 506)
• The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Section 437, 439)
  

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The petitioner allegedly posted defamatory comments against the judges of the High Court. 
• These comments were seen as lowering the integrity of the High Court. 
• It is also alleged that the petitioner’s seized phone had the Twitter and Facebook posts mentioned above.
  

Prominent Arguments by the Advocates 

• The petitioner’s counsel argued that the charge sheet was filed while the case was pending in court, but this was not brought to the court’s notice. Also, the earlier bail application was dismissed before the investigation was completed.  The counsel further submitted that the accused was in jail for 60 days and is entitled to default bail. 
• The respondent’s counsel submitted that the previous bail petition was disposed of on merit, and also, the petitioner cannot file two bail petitions within 15 days when no circumstances have been changed. 

Opinion of the Bench

• The court held that the investigation must be completed before the chargesheet is filed. 
• The court also held that the rule of ‘bail, not jail’ is being followed.
  

Final Decision

• The bench accepted the bail application.

Marc Pereira, an undergraduate student at Rizvi Law College, Mumbai, prepared this case summary during his internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2022.