Source: Twitter
Itanagar, Mar 30: The two accused persons, including the Assam-based graffiti artist Nilim Mahanta allegedly involved in defacement of mural painting on the boundary wall of State Civil Secretariat here, who were arrested by Itanagar Police on Sunday, were granted bail by a local court on Tuesday.
Accused Mahanta was arrested from his Lakhimpur residence on Sunday for creating a graffiti of 'No More Dams' and a resistance logo on a mural on the boundary wall of the Civil Secretariat building here, and co-accused Ebo Milli from Itanagar.
The artwork (mural) was made by the State Government recently marking the Golden Jubilee year of Arunachal Pradesh.
Police has registered a case against the arrested duo at Itanagar PS under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act. The IO of the case has produced both the accused persons before the court today - one day prior to expiry of police remand as sought by them. "This in itself implies that the procedural aspect of the investigation pertaining to both the accused persons is complete," the court said.
"Accused Ebo Mill and Nilim Nayan Mahanta will be released upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs 3,000 each with separate reliable sureties of like amount and in default to remain in judicial custody," read the order from the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) cum Civil Judge (Jr Division), Yupia.
The court further ordered that accused Mahanta "will repaint over the portion of the wall by bringing it back to its same form prior to the defacement. Co-accused Ebo Mili will provide the required assistance to the former and the entire exercise is to be completed within a period of 10 days from today".
The court directed the IO of the case SI K Tacha to oversee that point No. 2 of the bail condition (repainting of the wall) is completed within the prescribed time.
"This court reserves every right to cancel the bail if the accused persons violate any terms and conditions mentioned herein," the judge said, adding that the bail applications of both accused are allowed and disposed off, accordingly.
While stating that the "contention" regarding the applicability of Section 3 of the PDPP Act can be considered during the course of the trial, the court said, "It is a known fact that the paintings on the boundary wall commemorated the different stages of transformation our state had gone through for the last 50 years and Dams as shown in the painting is a reality of the development process of our state".
"….even if both the accused wanted to convey their protest regarding the issue of construction of Dams, there are several other modes of conveying their message but such defacement upon a carefully curated painting at the State's expense was certainly not the right forum," the court observed.
