New Delhi:
The Supreme Court is set to hear YouTuber and Podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia’s petition today, seeking the clubbing of multiple cases filed against him over his controversial remarks made on comedian Samay Raina’s show ‘India’s Got Latent’. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh is expected to take up the case today.
The hearing has been scheduled after Allahbadia, who is facing police inquiries, moved the Supreme Court last week asking the FIRs against him to be combined. He also sought anticipatory bail to ward off arrest from Guwahati Police. Last week, Allahbadia’s lawyer, Abhinav Chandrachud – the son of former Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud – sought an urgent listing of the matter in the top court. However, the request was turned down by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
Several FIRs have been filed against Allahbadia aka ‘BeerBiceps Guy’ in Maharashtra, Assam, and Jaipur – following which he has been asked to appear in person to record statements. He is yet to respond to investigation agencies after being named in FIRs filed by Maharashtra Cyber Department, Guwahati Police, and Jaipur Police in the ‘India’s Got Latent’ case, the police said.
Days after trying to get in touch with the Podcaster, the Mumbai and Guwahati police issued a joint statement on Monday saying Allahbadia has continuously been out of contact with the investigation agencies.
“Apart from Maharashtra Cyber and Guwahati Police, the Jaipur Police have also filed a case against Ranveer Allahbadia, but he has not yet been in contact with them too. Maharashtra Cyber Department has ordered Ranveer to appear before it on February 24,” it said.
Last week, officials went to look for Allahbadia at his Mumbai residence, but his apartment was locked.
Allahbadia was also supposed to appear before the National Commission for Women (NCW) on Monday morning, but as with the summons from Mumbai Police, he skipped the call. He has been summoned again by the women’s panel on March 6.
The Podcaster has cited death threats for not being able to appear before the investigating agencies. Posting a statement on social media, Allahbadia said, “I am watching death threats pour in from people saying they want to kill me… hurt my family…Some even tried to invade my other’s clinic posing as patients.”
“I am feeling scared and I don’t know what to do… But I am not running away. I have full faith in the police and the judicial system of India,” he added.
‘India’s Got Latent’ row
A huge row broke out after Allahbadia made distasteful comments about parents and sex on Raina’s show ‘India’s Got Latent’. The remarks sparked massive outrage and a debate in Parliament, leading to multiple complaints against the social media personality.
Cases have been filed against other YouTubers who appeared on the show including Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, and Apoorva Mukhija.
Hours after the episode was taken down from YouTube, Raina issued a statement saying he had removed all videos of the show from his channel and was “fully cooperating” with the authorities. “Everything that has been happening has been too much for me to handle. I have removed all India’s Got Latent videos from my channel. My only objective was to make people laugh and have a good time. I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly. Thank you,” he said.
Allahbadia also apologised in a video saying his comments were not “just inappropriate but also not even funny”.
“Comedy is not my forte, I am just here to say sorry,” he said in a video message. He also acknowledged he had misused his platform. “I am not going to give any context or justification or reasoning behind whatever happened. I am just here for an apology. I personally had a lapse in judgment. It wasn’t cool on my part,” he said.
