A court in Pune on Thursday rejected anticipatory bail pleas filed by two accused persons in a case where objectionable comments against a woman, who is wife of a senior political leader in Maharashtra, were allegedly posted on social media.An FIR in this case was lodged at the Cyber police station in April 22, 2025. Police had booked seven persons in this case on charges of sexual harassment, under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 75 (1) (4), 3 (5), 356 (2) and sections of the Information Technology Act.Police initially issued notices to the accused, asking them to remain present for investigation. The accused, identified as Nikhil Sankpal (36) of Kolhapur, responded to the notice and co-operated with the probe, so the police did not arrest him.As per the FIR, an alleged objectionable comment against the woman was posted on Sankpal’s X account, which received about 16,000 views and over 850 likes. The post was retweeted by many, including the remaining six accused.During investigation, the police arrested four accused Datta Chaudhari (37) of Dharashiv, Baliram alias Amit Pandit (42) of Bhandup, Ashish Wankhade (35) of Amravati, Shailesh Verma (47) of Yavatmal. “The court granted them bail to the four accused today,” said public prosecutor Rajesh Kavediya.Meanwhile, two accused Bhumish Save of Nalasopara and Abhijeet Fadnis of Vasai, who were on the run, had filed their applications seeking anticipatory appeal before the court. Kavediya and the woman’s counsel S K Jain opposed the applications. Additional sessions judge A S Gandhi passed an order rejecting the anticipatory bail pleas on Thursday.The judge observed that the accused circulated derogative material on social media against the woman “with intent to defame her and outrage her modesty”. The accused who did not honour the notice issued by the police to join the investigation, they are not entitled for the discretionary relief of anticipatory bail, the court order stated.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune