Fake clips of labourers: Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea of Bihar YouTuber

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to interfere with the Tamil Nadu government’s order detaining a YouTuber under the National Security Act (NSA).

The Supreme Court on Monday said that circulating unverified information to create disquiet in stable states will not be tolerated, refusing to interfere with the Tamil Nadu government’s order detaining a YouTuber under the National Security Act (NSA) for posting allegedly fake videos about attacks on migrant labourers from Bihar working in the state.

Bihar YouTuber Manish Kashyap.

Directing the petitioner Manish Kashyap to approach the high court, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala said, “We are not inclined to exercise the jurisdiction under Article 32 of the Constitution. The petition is accordingly dismissed. However, the petitioner will be at liberty to pursue his remedies in accordance with law, including in respect of the order of detention under the National Security Act 1980.”

The bench had, on an earlier occasion, questioned Tamil Nadu for booking Kashyap under NSA. But the state government filed an additional affidavit on May 6 highlighting the repeated misconduct by the petitioner, and said that it resulted in multiple FIRs being lodged against him in connection with separate posts showing fake video and misleading information to create unrest in the state and spread hatred among groups.

The bench told Kashyap: “You have stable states. You can’t just circulate anything and create disquiet. We should not be lending our support to this.” The state, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and additional advocate general of Tamil Nadu Amit Anand Tiwari, said that Kashyap was not a journalist as he claimed but a politician as he had contested elections in his home state Bihar.

Responding to Kashyap’s plea to club the six FIRs pending against him in Tamil Nadu with those pending against him in Bihar, Sibal pointed out that except for three FIRs relating to a common video posted by the petitioner, the rest were on separate incidents. He volunteered to request the state to club the three FIRs common in content.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, who appeared for Kashyap, said that if NSA has been slapped against him for posting a video, similar action must be taken against other news portals which carried the same news. Even the Bihar government opposed his plea to club all FIRs claiming that Kashyap has been accused in about a dozen crimes ranging from outraging modesty to attempt to murder to spreading hatred and promoting enmity.

Both states told the court that in the aftermath of the videos circulated by the petitioner, the police and administration of the two states had to take precautionary steps to ensure no violence is created. Top police officers from Bihar visited Tamil Nadu and on enquiry found the alleged videos to be fake. Nearly 1 million migrant workers from Bihar are employed in Tamil Nadu.