The Supreme Court has granted bail to a 30-year-old security guard who had been in custody for over a year in connection with a case alleging that obscene and derogatory content was posted on Facebook against Kalpana Soren, wife of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and a sitting MLA from Gandey.
A Bench comprising Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Prasanna B. Varale considered the period of incarceration undergone by the accused and noted that the offences alleged against him carry a maximum punishment of three years. The Court also found that his further custodial interrogation was not warranted.
The accused, Sahadev Uraon alias Sahadev Oraon, had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Jharkhand High Court’s refusal to release him on bail.
The prosecution case relates to a Facebook account operating under the name “Adivasi Ladka Raju Oraon”. According to the allegations, the account was used to upload a photograph of Kalpana Soren accompanied by allegedly obscene, vulgar and derogatory remarks. The objectionable post was purportedly noticed on August 28, 2025, following which a police officer attached to the Cyber Crime Police Station, Ranchi, lodged the case.
Uraon was arrested on September 6, 2025 and has remained in judicial custody since then. The case invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 relating to sexual harassment, stalking, insulting the modesty of a woman and defamation, apart from provisions of the Information Technology Act concerning identity theft and publication or transmission of obscene material in electronic form.
The Jharkhand High Court had rejected Uraon’s bail application on April 17, 2026. During the proceedings before the High Court, the State had opposed bail, alleging that the accused had employed a fictitious digital identity to target a woman legislator and had concealed his identity while allegedly making abusive and gender-based remarks.
Before the Supreme Court, Uraon contended that the High Court had not adequately considered the length of his incarceration and the stage reached in the criminal proceedings. It was submitted that the investigation had already been completed and the chargesheet filed, while the electronic evidence relied upon by the prosecution was already in its possession.
The accused further argued that there was no material indicating any likelihood of his tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses. He also asserted that he had no criminal antecedents and that the relevant considerations governing the grant of bail had not been properly examined by the High Court.
It was also argued that the seriousness of the allegations, by itself, could not constitute the sole basis for denying bail and that the Court was required to assess the circumstances of the individual case, including the period of custody and the progress of the trial.
The plea further brought to the Supreme Court’s notice that Uraon had already been granted bail in another criminal case arising out of the same alleged incident. That bail was granted on February 13, 2026 in a case stemming from a complaint by Javed Ansari, head of the Kanke Block Coordination Committee.
Uraon contended that the two proceedings originated from the same alleged occurrence and that neither case had been initiated on a complaint personally lodged by Kalpana Soren.
After considering the circumstances, including the prolonged incarceration and the maximum punishment prescribed for the alleged offences, the Supreme Court proceeded to grant bail to Uraon.
The matter was registered as Sahadev Uraon @ Sahadev Oraon v. State of Jharkhand, SLP (Criminal) No. 15058/2026.
Advocate Rahul Shyam Bhandari appeared for the petitioner.
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