SC rejects bail to travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra
New Delhi, June 6 -- The Supreme Court on Friday rejected bail to travel blogger Jyoti Malhotra accused of sharing sensitive information to Pakistan, observing that national security cannot be compromised at any cost.
The court termed the charges against Malhotra as "very serious" as it dismissed her plea challenging the Punjab and Haryana high court order refusing bail to her on March 7 citing the same reason.
A bench of justices Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma said, "These are very serious charges against you and any defence you have is a subject matter of trial." Malhotra's lawyer argued that she was arrested on May 16 last year and has remained incarcerated for over a year with no previous criminal antecedents.
The court observed, "There can be no compromise with national security. The allegation is that you go to the neighbouring country and visit persons at Chanakya Puri. You were in constant touch with the person who was asked by the government to leave the country. This is not a case for bail. You face trial."
Malhotra, a resident of Hisar in Haryana was accused of sharing sensitive information to Pakistani intelligence officials. She had a YouTube channel named 'Travel-with-Jo'. A case under Officials Secrets Act and BNS section 152 relating to acts endangering sovereignty and integrity of the country was registered against her after the state police gathered evidence of her meetings with an official of Pakistan High Commission in Delhi and later in Pakistan with officers of Pakistan Security & Intelligence Agency, whose names she disclosed to the police....
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