On Friday, the writ petition filed by Ranveer Allahbadia also known BeerBiceps under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the multiple FIRs was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for urgent listing.
After multiple complaints were filed and criminal proceedings were set in action across various states against YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia over his vulgar and crass comments about parents on the comedy show ‘India’s Got Latent’, the podcaster has petitioned the Supreme Court seeking protection from coercive action.
On Friday, the writ petition filed by Ranveer Allahbadia also known BeerBiceps under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the multiple FIRs was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna for urgent listing. However, declining to advance the scheduled hearing, CJI Khanna said, “We have already given a date of listing. No oral mentioning please.” The episode in question, featuring Ranveer Allahbadia, was uploaded on YouTube on February 8 as part of stand-up comedian Samay Raina’s show ‘India’s Got Latent’, which has a global subscriber base of over 7.3 million.
For the unversed, Ranveer Allahbadia had asked a contestant a controversial question about their parents’ sexual relationship during a recent episode of the show. Known for its bold comedic content, the show has now become the centre of controversy and has been receiving a lot of backlash for the vulgar comedy.
However, Khar police had asked Ranveer Allahbadia to appear at the Khar police station on Friday to record his statement, but he did not appear. When Khar police and Guwahati police on Friday visited Ranveer Allahbadia’s house in Andheri, they found the door closed. Guwahati police left a notice at his house, directing him to appear before them soon.”We were unable to get in touch with YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia as his mobile phone was switched off and his house was locked. His lawyer was also unreachable”, Mumbai Police said.
According to police sources, Pratham Sagar, the video editor of IGL, used to live with Samay Raina in Pune. Pratham Sagar told Khar police that he was instructed by Samay Raina to air the controversial clip on YouTube. Pratham and Samay have been associated for a long time. Pratham is a resident of Agra. According to Mumbai police, they are yet to record the statements of Jaspreet Singh, Samay Raina, and Ranveer Allahbadia.
Mumbai police sources also said that if Ranveer, Samay, and others do not come to record their statements, action will be initiated against them. So far, the police have recorded statements from seven individuals, including well-known YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani, content creator Apoorva Makhija, and the father of Balraj Singh Ghai, the owner of The Habitat Studio. Production manager and chief programmer Tushar Pujari, along with two other studio employees, have also provided their testimonies in the case.The cyber cell and the Mumbai Police are conducting separate investigations in connection with Allahbadia’s remarks on Raina’s YouTube show ‘India’s Got Latent’.
An Assam Police team is also in Mumbai in connection with the investigation and met the Maharashtra cyber cell officials on Thursday. Maharashtra Cyber Cell Chief Yashasvi Yadav told FPJ that Samay Raina has been issued a summons and has been called for questioning on February 18, while Ranveer Allahbadia has been summoned for an inquiry on February 24.Amid the controversy, Samay Raina on Wednesday claimed to have removed all videos of the show from YouTube, asserting that his intention was only to entertain and make people laugh.
