Maharashtra: Court Remands Actor Ketaki Chitale In Judicial Custody Till June 7 In SC/ST Act Case

A Thane court has remanded Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale in judicial custody till June 7 in a case registered against her by Navi Mumbai police two years ago for allegedly posting derogatory comments on Buddhism. 

The Rabale police in Navi Mumbai had last Thursday arrested the actor in connection with the case registered against her in March 2020 under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The local court had then remanded her in police custody till May 24. She was on Tuesday produced before the court which remanded her in judicial custody till June 7, her lawyer said. Local resident Swapnil Jagtap, member of the Ambedkar Yuva Sangh, in a police complaint two years ago alleged that he had received a screenshot on WhatsApp about Chitale's Facebook post on March 1, 2020. 

The screenshot contained some objectionable words against Dr B R Ambedkar, his wife Ramabai Ambedkar, and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. On Tuesday, Chitale's counsel Yogesh Deshpande told reporters outside the court that they would move the high court to seek quashing of all the FIRs registered against the actor in Maharashtra. 

He said have an application in the Thane court, seeking bail for the actor. Deshpande said state cabinet minister Jitendra Awhad had also retweeted Chitale's post, then why was she treated differently. Chitale (29), a film and TV actress, was arrested earlier this month in connection with the case of allegedly sharing an objectionable post on social media about NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

(With PTI inputs)