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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

YouTuber challenges FIR, LoC in HC

Mumbai : The Bombay High Court issued notice to the state government on a petition filed by UK-based medico and YouTuber, Dr. Sangram Patil, seeking to quash a Mumbai Police FIR and revoking a Look Out Circular in a criminal case lodged against him, on Thursday.   Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe, who heard the matter with preliminary submissions from both sides, sought a response from the state government and posted the matter for Feb. 4.   Maharashtra Advocate-General Milind Sathe informed the court...

YouTuber challenges FIR, LoC in HC

Mumbai : The Bombay High Court issued notice to the state government on a petition filed by UK-based medico and YouTuber, Dr. Sangram Patil, seeking to quash a Mumbai Police FIR and revoking a Look Out Circular in a criminal case lodged against him, on Thursday.   Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe, who heard the matter with preliminary submissions from both sides, sought a response from the state government and posted the matter for Feb. 4.   Maharashtra Advocate-General Milind Sathe informed the court that the state would file its reply within a week in the matter.   Indian-origin Dr. Patil, hailing from Jalgaon, is facing a criminal case here for posting allegedly objectionable content involving Bharatiya Janata Party leaders on social media.   After his posts on a FB page, ‘Shehar Vikas Aghadi’, a Mumbai BJP media cell functionary lodged a criminal complaint following which the NM Joshi Marg Police registered a FIR (Dec. 18, 2025) and subsequently issued a LoC against Dr. Patil, restricting his travels.   The complainant Nikhil Bhamre filed the complaint in December 2025, contending that Dr. Patil on Dec. 14 posted offensive content intended to spread ‘disinformation and falsehoods’ about the BJP and its leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.   Among others, the police invoked BNSS Sec. 353(2) that attracts a 3-year jail term for publishing or circulating statements or rumours through electronic media with intent to promote enmity or hatred between communities.   Based on the FIR, Dr. Patil was detained and questioned for 15 hours when he arrived with his wife from London at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (Jan. 10), and again prevented from returning to Manchester, UK on Jan. 19 in view of the ongoing investigations.   On Wednesday (Jan. 21) Dr. Patil recorded his statement before the Mumbai Police and now he has moved the high court. Besides seeking quashing of the FIR and the LoC, he has sought removal of his name from the database imposing restrictions on his international travels.   Through his Senior Advocate Sudeep Pasbola, the medico has sought interim relief in the form of a stay on further probe by Crime Branch-III and coercive action, restraint on filing any charge-sheet during the pendency of the petition and permission to go back to the UK.   Pasbola submitted to the court that Dr. Patil had voluntarily travelled from the UK to India and was unaware of the FIR when he landed here. Sathe argued that Patil had appeared in connection with other posts and was not fully cooperating with the investigators.

Debutant Shreejaya Chavan enters dynastic politics

Debutant Shreejaya Chavan enters dynastic politics

Mumbai: The BJP has fielded Mungantiwar and Mihir Kotecha from Chandrapur and Mulund constituencies respectively. Both of them had lost Lok Sabha elections. It is being considered that the party has expressed confidence in them while partly rectifying the mistakes made during Lok Sabha ticket allocation.


Apart from Shreejaya Chavan and Nitesh Rane, the party has also fielded Santosh Danve, son of former union minister Raosaheb Danve, from Bhokardan constituency in Marathwada region. On the backdrop of the Maratha quota stir, it needs to be seen as to what effect this change makes on the voting pattern.


Interestingly, the party hasn’t changed candidates from the constituencies where there were rumours that the party would give a new face. Even in the Kalyan East constituency, where the sitting BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad is currently in jail for firing bullets in a police station, the party has fielded Ganpat’s wife Sulabha while putting to rest that the ticket will go to some other party worker from the constituency.


The party has repeated sitting MLAs Manda Mhatre from Belapur and Seema Hire from Nashik West. The speculations were high that Mhatre would not get yet another chance from the constituency owing to her age and because of the insulting treatment, she gave to former rival and now fellow MLA from the city Ganesh Naik. In Nashik also, the local party workers were against Hire. However, the party appears to have decided to go with the popular faces against the wishes of local units.


The same logic appears to have been repeated in Solapur where the party has repeated Vijaykumar Deshmukh and Subhash Deshmukh from Solapur North and Solapur South constituencies respectively. Both of the names were rejected by the local party units. Yet the party has decided in their favour.


In Pune also, the party has repeated candidates on three of the four assembly segments of the city and not announced the ticket for the fourth seat, Kasba Peth.


The list also includes Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar, fielded from the Vandre West seat, and senior party leader and Lok Sabha member Narayan Rane’s son Nitesh Rane, renominated from Kankavli constituency in coastal Sindhudurg.


Notably, Bawankule, a minister in the erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis-led government, was denied a ticket in the 2019 elections from the Kamthi constituency he had represented for three terms. He has been renominated from Kamthi.


The BJP has replaced the sitting MLAs from Chinchwad in Pune district, Kalyan East in Thane district, and Srigonda in Ahilyanagar district.


Perhaps the most high-profile candidate is Shreejaya Chavan, daughter of former Congress politician Ashok Chavan. She will make her electoral debut from the Bhokar constituency, represented by her father, in Nanded district.


The BJP has given Mahesh Baldi, an independent MLA from Uran in Navi Mumbai, a ticket for the November 20 polls.


MLC Ram Shinde is fielded from the Karjat Jamkhed constituency. Shinde will take on sitting MLA Rohit Pawar of NCP (SP), the grandson of Sharad Pawar.

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