Shimla, Jan. 8 -- Himachal Pradesh high court has granted bail to a 20-year-old college drop out, who was arrested in May 28, 2025, for "spying" for Pakistan, saying that merely posting a picture with prohibited arms does not amount to sedition. The 20-year-old college drop out, Abhishek Bhardwaj, was arrested at Sukahar in Dehra sub division of Kangra district in May 2025 on suspicion of spying after sensitive and objectionable content was found on his mobile phone, police had said. The police had said at time of his arrest that he had been providing intelligence information to Pakistan and they arrested him after tracking his activities from a past fewdays. He was booked under Section 152 ( endangering sovereignty unity and integrity of India) of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The police had said that Bhardwaj, had uploaded his photo and video on Facebook with prohibited/illegal weapons. The HC bench, while ordering that Bhardwaj should be released on bail in the sum of Rs.50,000, with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the trial court, had ruled, "It is undisputed that no prohibited weapon was recovered from the petitioner. Thus, merely posting the prohibited arms forming the name of a person does not amount to sedition." HC bench in its order of January 1, which was made available on Wednesday, observed, "There is no averment in the FIR that any hatred or discontent was directed towards the Government established by law in India." Referring to the pen drive containing the images and the video presented before the court, HC bench said, "Prima facie, they show that the petitioner chatted with someone, and both of them criticised the hostilities between India and Pakistan. They advocated that all people, irrespective of their religion, should stay together and that the war serves no fruitful purpose. It is difficult to see how a desire to end the hostilities and a return to peace can amount to sedition." The police had said that Bhardwaj had "raised the slogan of Khalistan Zindabad". Talking about the Supreme Court order, the HC bench held, "This court was unable to locate any such slogan in the data extracted from the mobile phone, but assuming that it is correct, it was laid down by the Supreme Court that raising the slogan of Khalistan Zindabad does not amount to any offence." The HC bench clarified, "In the present case, the slogans were posted, as per the prosecution, on Facebook. There is no evidence, whatsoever, at this stage to show that any person was excited towards disaffection by posting these slogans. Thus, the mere posting of the slogans will not prima facie amount to any offence." The court also took into consideration that the police have filed the chargesheet before the trial court, and no fruitful purpose would be served by detaining Bhardwaj in custody. "The provisions of bail cannot be used to punish a person before the proof of his guilt. Hence, the petitioner deserves to be released on bail," said court....