Kolkata: Trinamool's Saket Gokhale, who has been accused of spreading "fake news" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and subsequently arrested by the Gujarat police, was granted bail on Thursday.
Trinamool MP Derek O'Brien tweeted saying the party's national spokesperson has been granted bail, adding that they are "always ready to fight the good fight".
Majeed Menon, representing Mr Gokhale, said they told the Ahmedabad court that the alleged tweet was only to "ensure the exposure of abuse of public funds".
"The short tweet suggests that the total amount of compensation to the victims of Morbi accident is barely 5 crores while a large amount of public funds was spent on urgent facelift of the hospital where the PM was to visit. The expense on his protocol, photography, and publicity together made the amount much more than the compensation awarded to the victims," said Mr Menon.
"This is the factual position. After arrest of Saket Gokhale the media sarcastically observed that the big fish of Morbi tragedy are still not arrested while an activist is arrested and the same question is still valid," Mr. Menon added.
The Gujarat police had alleged that Mr Gokhale made fake allegations that PM Modi's visit to Gujarat's Morbi - the site of a bridge collapse in which over 140 were killed - in November cost the state government Rs 30 crore -- around six times the total compensation given to the victims of the tragedy. He has also faked documents for his tweet on the subject, police sources have alleged.
The government's fact-check unit had zeroed in on the tweet, which was accompanied by what appeared to be a newspaper clipping. "RTI revealed the PM's visit to Morbi cost Rs 30 crore," it said. The Press Information Bureau, in its fact-check of December 1, said it was fake and "no such RTI response was given".
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had backed her party leader and termed the arrest a result of BJP government's "vindictive attitude".
"It's a very bad, and sad (incident). Saket (Gokhale) is a bright man. He is very popular on social media. He has made no mistake," Mamata Banerjee had said.
"I condemn this vindictive attitude. He (Saket) has been arrested because he tweeted against the Prime Minister. People also tweet against me... We are really feeling sorry about the situation," she added.
Trinamool's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee had described the arrest of Saket Gokhale by Gujarat Police as a reaction of a "panic-stricken" BJP. The Trinamool will not bow down to such "acts of intimidation", he said.