- Man arrested for sharing morphed Sonakshi Sinha photos on social media was released by court
- Bandra court rejected police plea for custody, citing improper arrest procedure
- Jain was arrested in Delhi but not produced before local magistrate there as required
A man arrested for allegedly circulating morphed photographs of actor Sonakshi Sinha on social media has been released after a Mumbai court declared his arrest illegal. The Bandra Police had sought three days of custody of the accused, Aryan Deepak Jain. However, the magistrate rejected the plea and ordered his release, directing the police to follow the due legal procedure.
The case was registered at Mumbai's Bandra Police Station on November 13, 2026, following a complaint filed by Sonakshi. The actor had alleged that a Delhi-based man had shared her morphed photographs on social media.
According to the case details, Jain was arrested from Jagatpuri Police Station in Delhi's Shahdara at around 10.11 am on November 14. He was subsequently brought to Mumbai and produced before a magistrate at the Bandra court. However, before being brought to Mumbai, he had not been produced before the nearest magistrate's court in Delhi.
Taking note of this, the magistrate observed that the police appeared to have brought the accused directly from Delhi without following the mandatory legal procedure. The investigating agency had also failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for not producing him before the local magistrate.
During the hearing, the Bandra Police sought three days of custody, stating that they needed to identify the platform or electronic device allegedly used to create the actor's obscene photographs. The police also argued that custody was necessary for further investigation.
However, Jain's lawyers, Aman Shahi, Prashant Trivedi and Aditya Jain, opposed the plea. They argued that the accused had neither been served the mandatory notice before his arrest nor informed of the grounds for his arrest. They also alleged that he had been secretly flown out of Delhi.
The defence further submitted that Jain had not been produced before a local magistrate in Delhi, as required by law. They alleged that the police had acted in haste because of the complainant's influential position. The accused also maintained that he had committed no offence and that the legal provisions invoked in the case were not applicable to the facts.
On the legality of the arrest, the court noted that the alleged offences carried a maximum punishment of up to seven years' imprisonment. In such cases, the police are required to comply with Section 35(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which requires officers to record reasons explaining why an arrest is necessary.
The magistrate observed that the available records did not establish that the investigating officer had satisfactorily followed these mandatory requirements. The court also pointed out that the mere need for further investigation could not justify arresting and detaining a person when the prescribed legal procedures had not been followed.
Consequently, the court declared Jain's arrest illegal and ordered his release.