The Single Judge Bench of the Orissa High Court, comprising Justice Chittaranjan Das in the case of Animesh Chakraborty v. State of Odisha has dismissed the anticipatory bail of an youtuber who was flying drone over the Lord Jagannath Temple and taking photos of it without the due permission.
Facts of the Case
The Petitioner was a freelance tourist all over the country, a You Tube Blogger and a registered drone operator. He used to make documentary photos, videography of places of importance from religious and cultural point of view. He operated drone over the Lord Jagannath Temple which was a red Zone. An FIR was lodged against him as such to have committed an offence u/s. 10(2) of the Aircraft Act 1934 and Jagannath Temple Act 30 (A) (4) (c).
Therefore, the Petitioner has filled the Anticipatory Bail Application before the High Court of Orissa.
Submission of the Petitioner
The Counsel on the behalf of the Petitioner submitted that he was a registered Drone-operator. He operated the drone to take the over view of the Temple premises and navigated his Drone over the Temple for approximately five minutes, since the App of DGCA did not show the flying zone restriction or red zone and collected the photographs of the Temple surroundings containing the over view of the Temple City.
He further submitted that the petitioner withdrew the video no sooner he received public comments from his You Tube channel and immediately begged apology in the channel itself.
Submission of the Respondent
The Counsel on the behalf of the Respondent opposed the anticipatory bail application and submitted that the Petitioner as Drone operator ought to have regards to the restrictions imposed in the flying of the drone and could not have taken a plea that the DGCA App did not reveal such a restriction. The Petitioner has not only violated the law but also hurt the religious sentiment of the lovers of the Lord of the Universe, Lord Jagannath that squarely attributed the intention of the Petitioner and therefore, the Petitioner is not entitled to the pre arrest bail.
Decision of the Court
The Court perused the facts and arguments of the case and expounded that Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri has been designated a monument of national importance by the Archaeological Survey and is a centrally protected monument. It is said, such monuments and heritage are treasure for a nation and symbol of pride of our civilization besides the religious belief.
The Court also asserted the fact that the Lord Jagannath Temple at Puri has been declared as Red Zone under Drone Rule, 2021 as published in Digital Sky platform and amenable to the offence under the 10(2) of the Aircraft Act 1934 and JT Act 30 (A) (4) (c).
Therefore the Court rejected the Bail application and held that keeping in view the submission of the parties, the nature of allegations as emerged from the materials on record, the circumstances appearing, the seriousness and gravity of the offences, this court is not inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the Petitioner.
Case Details
Case:- ABLAPL No. 16622 of 2022
Petitioner:- Animesh Chakraborty
Respondent:- State of Odisha
Counsel for the Appeallant – Mr. Srikar Kumar Rath
Counsel for the Respondent - Mr. Manoj Kumar Mohanty
Judge: Justice Chittaranjan Das
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(With input from news agency language)
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