Bombay High Court.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Mumbai police on a plea filed by UK-based doctor and YouTuber Sangram Patil, booked for his alleged objectionable social media post against BJP leaders, seeking quashing of the case.
In his petition, Patil also sought for the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against him by the police to be quashed.
Patil's counsel Sudeep Pasbola on Thursday told a single bench of Justice Ashwin Bhobe that the doctor was not even aware of the FIR filed against him and had in fact come to India from the United Kingdom on his own.
Advocate General Milind Sathe told the court that Patil was not cooperating with the police.
The court issued a notice to the police and directed them to file an affidavit in response to the petition, and posted the matter for further hearing on February 4.
As per the plea, Patil was stopped at the Mumbai international airport on January 19 based on the LOC and was not allowed to leave the country.
The doctor appeared before the city police's crime branch on Wednesday for questioning.
Patil said in his plea that he has been cooperating with the investigation, and added that he has already appeared thrice for questioning.
A British citizen of Indian origin and a native of Jalgaon district, Patil was initially stopped at the Mumbai airport on January 10 when he arrived in India and was questioned for around 15 hours, officials said.
He was again detained on January 16, when he was scheduled to fly to Manchester, and was not permitted to leave the country.
The FIR against Patil was registered in December last year based on a complaint by Nikhil Bhamre, social media coordinator of the Maharashtra BJP.
Bhamre told the police that he came across Patil's objectionable post while browsing online, raised the matter with party leaders, and then approached the police.