Lakshadweep filmmaker Aisha moves High Court for anticipatory bail

The Lakshadweep police has asked filmmaker Aisha Sultana to appear before it on June 20 in connection with the sedition case registered against her for allegedly criticising the Union Territory’s administrator Praful Khoda Patel. Sultana approached the Kerala High Court on Monday seeking an anticipatory bail, which is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.

Patel, a former BJP minister who has courted controversy in Lakshadweep with a series of legislations, reached the UT for a week-long visit on Monday. “I am willing to meet anyone who wants to discuss these legislations. As of now, I don’t have any meeting scheduled with any forum or representatives,” he told ET.

On Monday, MPs from Kerala waited at Kochi airport to meet the administrator with a representation seeking permission to visit the islands. However, the administrator changed his travel plan and reached Lakshadweep via Goa. When asked about not permitting MPs from other parts of the country, Patel said: “I will be meeting them on my return visit via Kochi. No one is denied permission to visit the islands but they will be required to follow Covid-19 quarantine rules.”


Sultana’s lawyer, Faseela Ibrahim, told ET: “We have filed a petition before the Kerala High Court and the matter is listed for tomorrow. The FIR has been registered on a complaint filed by BJP leader C Abdul Khader Haji. It is alleged that Aisha during a news debate on a Malayalam channel alleged that the Centre had used Covid-19 as a “bio-weapon” against the people of Lakshadweep.”