Santosh Pandit Gets Bail: What Pune Court Said About His Social Media Remarks

Pune, 16th September 2026: A Pune sessions court on Wednesday granted regular bail to social media influencer and civic activist Santosh Gajanan Pandit in a case involving allegedly obscene, sexually suggestive and defamatory remarks about Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, a woman corporator and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Additional Sessions Judge S.U. Wadgaonkar allowed Pandit’s bail application in Crime No. 361/2026 registered at Kothrud Police Station. The court ordered his release on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with a surety of the same amount.

The bail applies to the Kothrud police case cited in the order. The court directed Pandit not to contact the informant directly or indirectly and not to tamper with prosecution evidence.

In its September 16 order, the court observed that the maximum punishment prescribed for the offences invoked in the case was imprisonment of up to three years. It said the evidence sought by investigators could be obtained without keeping Pandit in detention.

The court described the prosecution’s apprehensions about possible intimidation of witnesses, interference with the investigation and repetition of similar acts as “speculative”. Whether Pandit had deliberately made the alleged remarks or used the words in an ordinary context would have to be determined during the trial, it said.

Pandit’s lawyer argued that the remarks cited by police did not amount to sexually coloured comments intended to outrage the modesty of women. The defence submitted that the expressions could have non-sexual meanings in ordinary usage and that continued detention was unnecessary considering the nature of the allegations and the punishment prescribed.

The prosecution and the informant’s lawyer opposed bail, arguing that Pandit had repeatedly made sexually coloured remarks about women and ministers on social media. They expressed concern that he could influence the complainant and witnesses, interfere with evidence or upload similar content because his social media accounts remained active.

The prosecution also told the court that call-detail records were yet to be obtained and that possible financial transactions and the involvement of other people required investigation. The judge, however, concluded that these investigative steps did not require Pandit’s continued detention.

The Kothrud case was registered under Sections 75(1)(iv), 75(3), 356(2) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, covering allegations of sexual harassment through sexually coloured remarks, defamation, intentional insult and electronic publication or transmission of obscene material.

According to the First Information Report, the 36-year-old complainant said she watched videos uploaded by Pandit on YouTube on September 2. She alleged that they contained obscene and sexually suggestive remarks about Patil and a woman Pune Municipal Corporation corporator. She also referred to an earlier video allegedly containing objectionable remarks about the chief minister.

Pandit was picked up from his Pune residence at around 1 am on September 3. He is known for posting videos about potholes, damaged roads, allegedly poor-quality infrastructure work and other civic issues in Pune.

Two complaints were reported in connection with the disputed content. BJP corporator Sunil Pande filed a complaint at Deccan Police Station over alleged abusive and derogatory remarks concerning Patil and development projects in Kothrud. A separate complaint was filed at Kothrud Police Station by PMC conservancy worker Sarika Kamble over videos allegedly targeting Patil, corporator Mitali Kuldeep Salvekar and Fadnavis.

A magistrate initially remanded Pandit to police custody until September 8. After the police custody period ended, he was sent to 14 days of judicial custody and shifted to Yerwada Central Jail.

The arrest triggered political criticism, with opposition leaders accusing the Maharashtra government of using the police machinery to suppress criticism of BJP politicians and civic failures. Police maintained that the action followed complaints about the nature of Pandit’s online remarks.

Separately, police had booked Pandit at Parvati Police Station in March 2026 following a woman journalist’s complaint alleging sexual harassment, stalking, intimidation and objectionable comments during her coverage of a protest. Those allegations constitute a separate case.