VASCO
Madhav Khattar, an 18-year-old accused in the Vasco hate speech controversy, was granted conditional bail by the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court, Vasco, on Tuesday evening after arguments in his bail plea were heard.
Madhav Khattar was arrested by the Crime Branch from Dehradun for allegedly being linked to a speech containing objectionable references to St Francis Xavier, which later circulated widely on social media. The incident is connected to a public event held in Vasco that sparked outrage and led to police action.
The court granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 10,000 with a surety of an identical amount. While allowing the application, the court noted that the accused had already undergone police custody and that no recovery was pending. It also observed that the main speaker, Gautam Khattar, in the case had already been arrested, leaving no grounds for further custodial interrogation.
Appearing for the accused, advocate Amey Prabhudesai submitted that his client had no role in writing or delivering the speech. The defence further stated that police had informed the court that Gautam Khattar had written the speech.
