The Supreme Court Monday (May 8), refused to grant any relief to Bihar-based YouTuber Manish Kashyap challenging the invocation of the National Security Act by the State of Tamil Nadu and said that he may approach the High Court. The apex court also dismissed his plea seeking to club the FIRs registered against him in Bihar and Tamil Nadu for allegedly spreading fake videos of attacks on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu.
#BREAKING
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) May 8, 2023
CJI: " You cannot spread disquiet in stable states like this !"#SupremeCourt REFUSES plea by Youtuber Manish Kashyap seeking clubbing of First Information Reports (FIRs) for making fake videos of attacks on Bihari migrants & to quash NSA charge #SupremeCourtofIndia pic.twitter.com/aakvYvs5Cy
Kashyap faces six FIRs in Tamil Nadu and three in Bihar in connection with the matter.
The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala ordered, “We are not inclined to exercise jurisdiction under Article 32” and said in the order that Manish may approach the High Court.
Notably, senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Bihar-based YouTuber, argued that he made the films based on media reports published by some mainstream newspapers and that if he is being held under the NSA, then journalists from other newspapers must also be detained under the NSA.
“If this boy has to be in jail, all journalists have to be in jail then”, Singh submitted saying that the same thing was reported in the Hindi vernacular newspaper Dainik Bhaskar. He sought that the bench combines all FIRs filed in Tamil Nadu and transfer them to Bihar, where the first FIR filed in relation to the subject was filed.
When the bench declined to hear the case, Maninder Singh cited a previous Supreme Court ruling that interfered with the detention of Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhemcha under the NSA.
The bench, however, remained unfazed and the CJI stated orally that the Kashyap videos created panic about a stable state.
CJI questions application of NSA in the Manish Kashyap case calling it ‘vengeance’
Notably, in the previous hearing, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud questioned Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the state government, regarding the invocation of the NSA against the YouTuber. “Mr Sibal, why NSA for this?”, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has asked. “Why this vengeance against this man?” he asked further.
Manish Kashyap, a YouTuber from Bihar, was held on April 6 under the National Security Act (NSA) in Bihar after he circulated alleged fake videos showing assaults on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu. Kashyap surrendered as the Bihar Police conducted raids on the possible hideouts of the accused.
It was reported earlier that Kashyap had tweeted a ‘fake video’ of the attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu which went viral over social media. The video was however created by the main accused Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, a native of Gopalganj district in rented accommodation in Patna. The videos were debunked as fake by the police department.
