HC says custody no longer needed as probe is over and electronic device has been seized
PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Saurabh Sahni, a native of Lucknow, who is accused of uploading on social media a 19-month-old video allegedly showing men soliciting a foreign woman at the Baga coastal stretch.
Sahni, who was lodged in Colvale jail under judicial custody, was arrested by the Crime Branch (CB) following a State complaint.
The complaint alleged that the old video clip was circulated on social media with misleading claims, sparking controversy and attracting widespread online attention.
Investigators also claimed that the accused had deliberately reposted the video to increase engagement and gain followers on his social media accounts.
During the hearing before the Vacation Bench, the prosecution opposed the bail plea, arguing that the accused had knowingly circulated misleading content and that a chargesheet was likely to be filed within
two weeks.
The accused, meanwhile, told the court that the video had already been deleted from his Facebook account. After hearing both sides, the High Court granted him bail with conditions.
“Since the electronic device has been confiscated and the investigation is over, the custody of the applicant is not required. Prima facie, the provisions of Section 75 and 79 of the BNS, 2023 and Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, would not apply. The applicant has no past criminal antecedents,” the court observed while allowing the bail application.
The case relates to the circulation of a video clip allegedly showing men approaching a foreign woman at Baga beach.
Police later found that the footage was not recent and had been recorded around 19 months earlier by the accused during a trip to Goa with his wife.
According to the police complaint, Sahni first uploaded the clip on his YouTube channel, Realduniya007, on April 12, 2026, to increase his subscriber count. However, after receiving fewer views, he allegedly uploaded the same video on his personal Facebook account under the name Saurabh Sahni.
