NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre, Tamil Nadu and Bihar to a plea by YouTuber Manish Kashyap who has been arrested by Tamil Nadu police for allegedly circulating fake videos about violence against Bihari workers. He was arrested from Bettiah in Bihar on March 18.
Noting that he was already under incarceration, a bench of Justices Krishna Murari and Sanjay Karol while posting the plea for April 21 said, “We could have protected you if you were not in custody.”
Kashyap in his plea while seeking interim bail had sought consolidation of FIRs registered against him.
Apprising the court about Kashyap’s arrest, senior advocate Siddhartha Dave submitted that multiple FIRs were filed against him. “As a journalist whichever way I’ve done it, right or wrong I can’t be subjected to 5 FIRs. He is taken on a production warrant to Tamil Nadu, where is presently lodged and his bail has been rejected. It is astounding that NSA has been invoked in this case.”
While the bench was inclined to issue an order of ‘no further coercive action,’ senior advocate Kapil Sibal said, “This will set a wrong precedent. He is detained under NSA. Give me two weeks to prove all cases.”