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‘Mr Sibal, why NSA for this?’: CJI to Tamil Nadu govt over YouTuber Manish Kashyap's fake videos
Supreme Court served a notice to Tamil Nadu government in response to a plea filed by Manish Kashyap, who is seeking to have his detention under NSA annulled.
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Tamil Nadu government not to shift YouTuber Manish Kashyap, arrested for allegedly circulating fake videos of migrant labourers being attacked in the southern state, from the Madurai Central Prison.
The court also issued notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a petition by Kashyap seeking to quash his detention under the National Security Act or NSA.
During the hearing, a bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha questioned the need for invoking NSA for such allegations, Live and Law reported.
"Mr.Sibal, why NSA for this?", the CJI reportedly asked the senior advocate, who was appearing for the Tamil Nadu government. Sibal replied that Kashyap had nearly 60 lakh followers on social media and his videos caused widespread panic and fear among migrant workers. Alleging that Kashyap was not a journalist, Sibal contended that the videos were made with a political agenda.
Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Kashyap, submitted that NSA has been invoked against Kashyap. The arrested Youtuber also faces six FIRs in Tamil Nadu and three in Bihar.
"Apart from the relief sought under Article 32, the petitioner seeks to challenge the detention order under National Security Act (NSA). The petitioner is allowed to amend the plea. Issue notice on amended prayers. We direct that the petitioner be not moved from the Central Prison Madurai," the bench said, news agency PTI reported.
The matter has been posted for hearing on April 28.
Sibal stated that Kashyap has already been detained under the National Security Act and requested additional time to submit a response.
During the hearing, the representative for Kashyap, who has also requested the dismissal of the FIRs lodged against him for the same alleged offence, informed the Supreme Court that his client has now been charged under the NSA.
Madurai Superintendent of Police Shiva Prasad confirmed that Kashyap has been apprehended under the NSA.
On April 5, Kashyap appeared before the Madurai district court, which remanded him in judicial custody for 15 days before sending him to the Madurai central prison.
The petitioner filed a plea with the Supreme Court requesting that all FIRs filed against him in Tamil Nadu be combined with those filed in Bihar.
The petition also claims that the media widely reported on the alleged violence against migrant labourers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu, and that the petitioner had spoken out against it by producing videos on social media platforms and writing content on Twitter starting on March 1.
(With inputs from PTI)
