New Delhi, 02 April (H.S.):

In a recent order, the Patiala House Courts in Delhi granted bail to an accused who had posted an AI‑generated image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi apparently bowing before actor Shah Rukh Khan. Additional Sessions Judge Saurabh Pratap Singh Laler passed the bail order in favour of the accused, Mujahid Jamal Sheikh.

The court observed that the investigation in the case has been completed and that during the period of his police custody the police had not recovered any incriminating material.

It noted that the accused had closed his X (formerly Twitter) account on March 14 at the behest of the investigating officer and reopened it only when asked to do so. While granting bail, the judge held that there was no likelihood of the accused absconding or tampering with evidence, and that he had no criminal record. The sole allegation against him is that he uploaded, using AI, a morphed photograph of Prime Minister Modi alongside Shah Rukh Khan.

Delhi Police had arrested the accused on March 18 and produced him in court. The court initially remanded him to one day of police custody, after which he remained in judicial custody. During the bail hearing, his lawyer Amir Raza Khan submitted that the petitioner was a law‑abiding person with no antecedents. The accused’s family includes his wife, three children, and elderly parents, and he is the sole earning member of the household.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar