FIR against UK-based doctor over posts against PM Modi justified, Mumbai police tells HC
Mumbai: The Mumbai Police has informed the Bombay High Court that the proceedings initiated against a UK-based physician and YouTuber, Dr Sangram Patil, were undertaken with the intent of preserving the country’s global standing, upholding the stature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on international platforms, and safeguarding national interests, and not as a capricious exercise of power.
The submission came in connection with a case in which Dr Patil has been named as an accused following a complaint filed on December 18, 2025, by BJP Media Cell chief Nikhil Bhamre, who alleged that Patil had uploaded defamatory, objectionable, and obscene content targeting the Prime Minister and certain party leaders on social media, reports Live Law.
According to the case details, Patil became aware of the criminal case only when immigration officials stopped him from boarding a flight to the United Kingdom, citing the existence of a Look Out Circular issued in the matter. The accused allegedly made some 'objectionable and defamatory' and 'obscene posts’ online on his Facebook page against PM Modi and the current government leaders.
Patil, refuting allegations, has approached a single-judge Justice Ashwin Bhobe seeking the court’s intervention to secure permission to return to his home in the UK. Following the complaint, the judge had instructed the city police to file an affidavit-in-reply to the petition during the last hearing. "I say that Petitioner Dr. Sangram Patil, a foreign national holding United Kingdom citizenship, has posted content on Facebook from his account making serious and scandalous allegations of a lascivious nature against the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. I further say that during the same time frame. Another Facebook account operating under the name Shahar Vikas Aghadi posted content linking the PM with a woman, accompanied by obscene remarks," the affidavit reads.
According to the Daily, Mumbai Police has also considered Patil’s foreign citizenship, his frequent international travel, and cross-border digital operations, and he might be at risk of evading the investigation, and consequence of the gravity of an offence which puts India's national integrity at risk. Hence, an LOC was issued on December 22, 2025, with instructions to 'Detain and Hanover to Local Police’ after the due permission of competent authorities. Police also clarified that the ‘preventive and regulatory measure’ was issued to ensure that no one should abscond or evade due process of law on the pretext of being a foreign national.
“It is respectfully submitted that issuance of LOC is lawful, proportionate, and necessary in the facts of the present case. It is further respectfully submitted that the same is neither punitive nor arbitrary but only to facilitate investigation and safeguard the image of the country and its top leadership at the international forum, and to protect national integrity. I further say that on a prima facie assessment of the timing, content, location and similar narrative of the posts, it appears prima facie that both the two Facebook accounts were operated in a coordinated and concerted manner aimed at maligning and scandalising the image of PM hinting at a high probability of common authorship, control, or conspiracy," the affidavit further reads.
"I say that at this stage, the possibility that such acts form part of a larger, organized effort in order to malign constitutional authority and disturb the public order cannot be ruled out. It is on record that Petitioner has himself admitted during enquiry that he has posted the said post from his Facebook ID," Police stated, adding that many political figures have been directly targeted by the doctor. Further, the DCP has contended that a thorough investigation is necessary to determine if the accused, who is a foreign national, had any local assistance or collaborations.
The affidavit also claimed that the petitioner has not been cooperative with the team during the investigation and did not allow full access to his Facebook account, constantly giving ambiguous answers, claiming that his social media account can only be accessed through phone as a 'one-time password' would be received in his laptop, which is at UK. The police have pointed out that Patil has given hate speech and created public mischief, circulated false news, shared misleading, controversial, and inflammatory information, thus misusing intermediary platforms. His action, according to police, constituted threats to sovereignty, integrity, and public order, and thus the FIR against him is justified.
