YouTuber Samay Raina has been called by the Maharashtra Cyber Cell for the second time this week regarding the row over a statement by podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia on Raina’s program, ‘India’s Got Latent’. Raina, who is in the US now, has sought additional time to reply and will return on March 17.
The scandal was provoked when a video of Ranveer Allahbadia asking a contestant an indecent question about intimacy among parents went viral. The comment stoked a heated controversy over freedom of speech and decency, leading Allahbadia to apologize and describe his remarks as a ‘lapse in judgment’. Raina subsequently removed all installments of ‘India’s Got Latent’ from YouTube and assured complete support to the inquiry.
Ranveer and Apoorva Give Statements to Mumbai Police
Mumbai Police have already taken statements from seven individuals, including influencer Apoorva Makhija, and Ranveer Allahbadia will be produced before them in the coming days as well. Maharashtra Cyber Cell has served summons to over 40 people, including the contestants and judges of the show, for questioning.
In a connected development, the Guwahati Police also filed a case against Ranveer Allahbadia and four others, and a team from Mumbai was probing the matter. The matter even reached Parliament, with Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske asking for a law to regulate social media.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who hadn’t seen the controversial clip, warned against the limits of freedom of speech, stating, “Everyone has the freedom of speech, but our freedom ends when we encroach upon the freedom of others. In our society, we have made some rules; it is absolutely wrong if someone breaks them. Action should be taken against them.”
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has called Raina, Allahbadia, Makhija, and others related to the show to appear before it on February 17 in New Delhi.