The Supreme Court has dismissed YouTuber Manish Kashyap's plea to combine the FIRs registered against him in Bihar and Tamil Nadu for allegedly spreading fake news about attacks on Biharis in Tamil Nadu. The bench, consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha, and Justice JB Pardiwala, also denied Kashyap's request to quash his detention under the National Security Act. The court, however, allowed Kashyap to approach the Madras High Court to seek relief.
During the hearing, CJI Chandrachud commented that "You have a stable state, the state of Tamil Nadu. You circulate anything to create disquiet...we can't be lending our ears to this..." Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing Kashyap, argued that the videos were based on media reports from certain mainstream newspapers, and if he were to be arrested under NSA, then journalists from other newspapers would also need to be detained under the same act.
The Bihar government counsel explained that FIRs in Patna were filed for different transactions, including one for a video shot by Kashyap in Patna, which he misrepresented as shot from Tamil Nadu, and another for a video shot near Patna airport with fake interviews of people claiming to be migrants who had fled from Tamil Nadu. The counsel further revealed that Kashyap is a habitual offender with cases for extortion and attempted murder filed against him.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the State of Tamil Nadu, argued that Kashyap, a politician who contested elections in Bihar, is not a journalist and that he has the option of approaching the Madras High Court to seek the clubbing of FIRs registered in Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had opposed the plea for combining FIRs against Kashyap and stated that he could not seek the shelter of constitutional rights after disturbing public order and national integrity. The state government had emphasized that freedom of speech is not absolute and must be exercised with caution and responsibility. Kashyap's videos allegedly caused widespread alarm and panic among the migrant labour community, with over six lakh followers on social media.
TAGS: Supreme Court YouTuber Manish Kashyap FIRs fake news attacks on Biharis Tamil Nadu Bihar National Security Act High Court Chief Justice of India media reports Dainik Bhaskar Patna extortion attempt to murder Kapil Sibal Madras High Court journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhemcha panic migrant labour community public order national integrity freedom of speech.
