The court of Hisar district of Haryana has rejected the bail plea of YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra (33), arrested under the Official Secrets Act. Jyoti Malhotra, who runs a YouTube channel named ‘Travel with JO’, was arrested by Hisar Police on May 16 on suspicion of espionage. He is currently in judicial custody.
The court of Additional Sessions Judge Dr. Parminder Kaur said in the order that if the accused is released on bail, it can hinder the investigation, tamper with digital evidence and it can harm national security. Many things have been clearly mentioned in the court’s detailed order of October 23.
There are serious allegations in this case under sections of the Official Secrets Act and the Indian Justice Code. The forensic material on record, the intelligence report of the SMAC (Multi-Agency Centre) and the contacts with the foreign official together raise the suspicion that releasing the accused would be against public interest.
The judge said, “If granting bail poses a threat to public order or national security, the court should refrain from granting bail.” He said that while considering bail, it is important to look at the available evidence holistically. According to the order, the intelligence links shown in the SMAC inputs, communications linking the petitioner to the foreign national, forensic reconstruction of the deleted data and the factual matrix of suspicious activities related to foreign visits constitute a serious prima facie case.
The court accepted that in view of all these facts, it would not be appropriate to grant bail to the accused. The judge wrote in the order that cases related to national security cannot be relaxed like normal penal laws. He said, “This case has the potential to affect the sovereign interests of the state.” Therefore the court will have to exercise caution.
According to sources, Jyoti Malhotra She was in contact with Pakistan High Commission officer Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish since November 2023. On May 13, the Indian government had expelled Danish from the country on charges of being involved in espionage activities. Police claim that ISI was grooming Jyoti Malhotra as an asset.
It was also said that Jyoti Malhotra shared videos and visuals of sensitive areas of India with a foreign agency. Jyoti Malhotra’s lawyer argued that she is a woman, the sole earning member of the family. His past record is clean. The court accepted that such arguments generally have importance from the social point of view.
But in matters related to national security it cannot take the place of public interest. The court wrote, “Granting bail to the accused in such cases may impact the investigation and may put the security of the state at risk.” Therefore, this court refuses to release the accused.” The defense also said that the intelligence inputs are still untested.
The prosecution has not been able to provide evidence of giving sensitive information to foreign agents. The court said that all these aspects will be proved or refuted in the trial, but at this stage the court will have to take a decision only after looking at the available material. The court noted that facts like the accused’s foreign trips and VIP treatment from Pakistani officials are important in the investigation.
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