The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea by YouTuber Manish Kashyap seeking the clubbing of First Information Reports and quashing of charges under the National Security Act against him for making fake videos of attacks on Bihari migrants in Tamil Nadu, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasima and JB Pardiwala said that the Court was not inclined to use its powers under Article 32 of the Indian Constitution.
The State of Tamil Nadu last month booked Kashyap for sharing fake news about migrant workers and utilised them to perpetrate communal hatred. He is currently in the custody of the Tamil Nadu Police.
The TN government submitted that neither the FIRs nor the NSA charge could be quashed since Kashyap doctored videos and used them as background clips while stating that migrants were being beaten up and killed in Tamil Nadu.
Previously, the apex court had allowed Kashyap to amend his plea to challenge the invocation of the NSA and indicated its inclination to transfer all the cases to Bihar.
“He has made fake videos and circulated them like this. You have stable States…. you share anything and you spread disquiet in those states,” CJI DY Chandrachud remarked. But it clarified that Kashyap was at liberty to approach appropriate authorities, including the NSA for remedy.
Manish Kashyap fought elections for Bihar’s Chanpatia assembly seat in 2020.
