New Delhi: While granting bail to a Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) (NCP (SP)) office-bearer, a court in Pune has said that criticism of the government or the chief minister by itself cannot be construed as “waging war” against the nation, reported Press Trust of India.Additional sessions judge B.D. Kulkarni said on Tuesday (July 14) that every citizen has the right to comment on, compliment and criticise the government’s action.“Nothing on record suggests that the accused has declared or incited waging war against the State or committed any act endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India,” said the court while allowing the bail plea of NCP (SP) functionary Mahadev Balgude.The Maharashtra police had arrested Balgude, the state head of the social media wing of NCP (SP), was arrested in April this year on charges of circulating morphed photos of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on social media platforms and also posting content allegedly sympathetic to Naxalites.Balgude was booked under several sections including Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to purposely or knowingly endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.Judge Kulkarni noted that offences the applicability of BNS Section 152 in the present case was “debatable”, while the remaining offences invoked against the accused were bailable.The court also said that since the probe was over and a chargesheet had been filed, there was no requirement of further custodial interrogation.Sameer Shaikh, the counsel of Balgude had submitted that the case was politically motivated that criticism of the government was protected under the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.‘Citizens being treated as slaves of Indian government’, another court order had said earlier this monthEarlier, on July 3, in a similar order, the Bombay high court had set aside a police externment order against a political activist. The high court had ruled that protests against government policies do not constitute grounds for such action.Saeed Ahmad Abdul Wahid Chaudhary, the general secretary of the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) had filed a petition challenging externment orders issued against him on December 3, 2025, and March 27, 2026, by the state police.While hearing the petition, Justice Madhav Jamdar had remarked orally on the tendency to curb protests and stated that citizens were being treated as slaves of the Indian Government.Going through the bunch of first information reports against the petitioner the judge asked whether shouting slogans like “BJP government murdabad” and “Amit Shah murdabad” is treason. “Can’t citizens raise such slogans? It’s a right of the citizen if he chooses so.” Justice Jamdar reminded the police that they were public servants and “not servants of the PM or CM.”In its order setting aside the externment order, the court said that the petitioner had organised morchas and dharnas against certain decisions of the Government of India.Justice Jamdar said that these actions cannot be grounds for externment under the Maharashtra Police Act. The court said that the action taken was mala fide and affected the petitioner’s rights under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. The order further added that citizens have the freedom to express their opinions and to live with dignity.