A Mumbai court on Saturday, July 6, refused to grant interim relief from arrest to the owner of a Uttarakhand-based Ayurveda company who has been accused of creating and posting 'deepfake' videos of actor Amitabh Bachchan. Sessions Judge VM Pathade refused to grant interim relief from arrest to Abhijeet Patil, who runs an Ayurveda company in Rishikesh. Amitabh Bachchan had filed a case with the cyber police in May 2024 after seeing several 'deepfake' videos on social media. In these 'deepfake' videos, the actor was seen promoting the products of Patil's company. The accused had allegedly created and posted pornographic 'deepfake' videos of Amitabh Bachchan to promote sexual health products.
Amitabh Bachchan's deepfake video case
Fearing arrest, the accused had filed an anticipatory bail plea in the sessions court and sought interim relief till the decision on his plea. The police, in its written reply to Patil's plea, stressed that persons accused of cyber crime understand that they will get bail despite making pornographic videos by stealing the identities of celebrities and actors.
Patil had posted a fake video on Instagram
Special Public Prosecutor Iqbal Solkar, appearing on behalf of the police, said that if the accused is given relief, the investigation will be affected. Opposing Patil's petition, the police had argued that when the investigation team went to Rishikesh during the investigation, the employees of Patil's company had told that he was making such videos and posting them through Instagram account. After this, a notice was issued against Patil. But he did not appear in the court on July 4. And he had sought interim relief to avoid arrest.
Police argued against Patil in court
In a written reply to Patil's petition, the police argued that apart from Amitabh Bachchan, Patil has also made deep fake videos of other film actors. The police also said that despite the summons being issued, Patil did not appear before the investigation team. Therefore, he can do so in future as well. Therefore, he should not be given any relief. The court refused to grant interim relief to Patil and adjourned the hearing on his anticipatory bail plea.
