A court in Hisar in Haryana on Wednesday refused to grant bail to YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra, who was arrested in May for spying for Pakistan. Jyoti filed a bail application on Tuesday, a day after her judicial custody for two weeks till 23 June.
Jyoti’s lawyer Kumar Mukesh strongly objected to the sections imposed against him in the first information report (FIR). His lawyer said in the court that no document or strong evidence may be involved in the prosecution that can prove his participation in any detective network.
The lawyer also stated that Jyoti went to the Pakistani High Commission in 2023 and at that time, the Indian Joint Code (BNS) Act was not implemented, but the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was in force. He argued that the FIR mentions Section 152 of the registered BNS, which was under Section 124A (sedation) under the IPC that the Supreme Court had placed it in prosecution, which is why the prosecution could not make a case of “waging war against the state” against Jyoti.
The FIR also mentions Section 3 (espionage) of the official Secrets Act and 5 (Communication of secret information to unauthorized persons). Relying on a press release issued by Hisar Police, which mentions that they did not recover any sensitive information from any military or policy or its possession, demanding that the classes have no qualifications in the FIR and need to be released.
Hisar police had earlier stated that any evidence shows that Jyoti had access to any military or rescue information, but claimed that she was in touch with some people, which knows that he was a Pakistani intelligence operator.
The lawyer said that Harkirat Singh, a member of the Haryana Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, was also initially questioned with Jyoti. Later, he was released, but Jyoti was kept in custody.
His lawyer said that the FIR was registered against Jyoti on 15 May based on his question. The entire FIR was based on the version of Jyoti, which is not legally acceptable. His lawyer said that the police could not keep any adequate evidence on the record that indicates his participation in espionage. However, the court rejected the arguments of the defense counsel and refused to grant bail to the accused.
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Jyoti was arrested from Hisar on 17 May for spying the allegations. She was in police custody for nine days, after which she was sent to judicial custody on 26 May. On 9 June, she appeared before the court through a video conference and extended his judicial custody.
Born in 1992, 33 -year -old Jyoti was raised by her father Harish Malhotra and grandparents. She initially worked in a private firm in Gurgaon, after which she became a travel blogger. After the Pahalgam terror attack, 26 Indian tourists died as a result, agencies investigating agencies found that she was in constant contact with Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, an employee of Pakistani High Commission since November 2023.
Investigation agencies later arrested him for spying for Pakistan. Danish was expelled to include in espionage on 13 May. Investigators claimed that Pakistani intelligence operators were developing Jyoti as a property.
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