The arrest on April 11, they have contended, is the result of "vendetta and political vengeance"
Two minor children of a Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh have approached the Supreme Court, seeking his release. Sachin Chaudhary, 35, was arrested earlier this month and he is currently in judicial custody.
In their petition filed through their mother, the children, aged two and seven, said their father was " detained for holding a press conference and questioning the methodology of the chief minister of the state in handling the epidemic i.e. Corona". This, the appeal said, was exercise of his fundamental right and within the ethos of democratic liberty.
The arrest on April 11, they have contended, is the result of "vendetta and political vengeance".
The matter will be heard today through video-conferencing before a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde.
In a Hindi tweet, the Amroha police said Sachin Chaudhary he held a press conference amid the lockdown without permission where he spread many rumours about coronavirus. He also used objectionable language against PM Modi and the UP Chief Minister, the police have claimed.
Sachin Chaudhary's wife Abha Chaudhary has claimed that he was arrested because he had been distributing ration to the needy in Amroha. The arrest, she tweeted, was made on "filmsy grounds and it is political vendetta".
He Hindi tweet, roughly translated, read: "My husband's only fault was that he was providing ration to those stuck in the coronavirus lockdown. But S Chaudhary has been charged under several sections and sent to jail. Request you all to raise your voice for his release".
A Congress leader from Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh, Sachin Chaudhary, had contested the Lok Sabha polls last year.