Overview

• Santosh Darekar was booked by Mumbai’s cyber cell after BJP leader Yojna Thokle lodged a complaint accusing him of sharing an objectionable Facebook post about CM Devendra Fadnavis on May 23.
• He faces charges under sections 197(1)(c) and 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
• Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Kale rejected his anticipatory bail plea on June 21, finding a prima facie case and the need for custodial questioning.
• The prosecution argued that his mobile phone must be seized for technical analysis of the post’s metadata, a position the court upheld as “apparently genuine.”
• Darekar has asserted he was falsely implicated, cited no criminal antecedents, and said he missed an earlier summons due to his mother’s illness.