On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered YouTuber Manish Kashyap to file a complaint with the appropriate high court challenging a detention order issued by the Tamil Nadu police under the National Security Act in connection with the numerous FIRs filed against him because of his videos depicting migrant workers from Bihar being attacked in Tamil Nadu.
A bench presided over by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud declined to consider Kashyap’s request to combine the FIRs filed against him. In a stable state, the court ruled, one cannot move around and cause trouble.
The court instructed Kashyap to file a complaint contesting each of the FIRs filed against him with the appropriate high court in Madras and Bihar.
“We are not inclined to entertain the petition. However, petitioner has the liberty to approach High Court,” the court said.
Kashyap, a Bihar-based journalist has approached the Supreme Court seeking clubbing of FIRs registered against him.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for YouTuber apprised the top court that if Kashyap would remain inside continuously, it would be a serious miscarriage of justice.
However, counsel for Tamil Nadu Government and Bihar Government opposed the plea and apprised the court that there were 12 FIRs in Bihar and six in Tamil Nadu.
The counsel of Bihar apprised the top court that the first FIR against him is filed over the allegation of creating a fake video showing migrant labourers.
The second FIR was filed against him over a video with a different picture and soundtrack and the third FIR is based on a picture where he shows himself in handcuffs saying that he was arrested. Bihar Government claimed Kashyap was a habitual offender
Besides Senior Advocate Singh, Manish Kashyap was represented by lawyers Aditya Singh Deshwal, Abhijeet and Ridam Arora. Kashyap’s counsel apprised the court earlier that National Security Act has been imposed against his client.
Kashyap said that many false FIRs were registered against him in Bihar and Tamil Nadu at the behest of the present ruling government.
Kashyap sought interim bail and clubbed all cases in one place. He said that cases against him were filed because he had raised the issue of violence against the Bihar-based migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu on social media.
The YouTuber, who was caught for allegedly circulating false and misleading information about purported attacks on migrant labourers working in Tamil Nadu was arrested from Bettiah in Bihar on March 18.
According to the Bihar Police, Kashyap surrendered at Jagdishpur police station in Bettiah while the Bihar Police and Economic Offence Unit (EOU) were in the process of attaching his house.
Kashyap was wanted by Bihar Police and Tamil Nadu Police in a fake news matter of labourers issue in the southern state, according to an official statement issued by the EOU of Bihar Police had said.
