Published Apr 11, 2023 | 6:34 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 11, 2023 | 6:57 PM
Manish Kasyap. (Facebook)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 11 April, sought responses from Tamil Nadu and Bihar governments on a plea by YouTuber Manish Kashyap — accused of posting fake news on alleged attacks on migrant workers from Bihar and their consequent fleeing — for the clubbing of five FIRs lodged against him in the two states.
Seeking response from Tamil Nadu and Bihar, a bench of Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Sanjay Karol gave a week’s time to file reply and posted the matter for hearing on 21 April.
The bench also issued notice to the central government.
Manish Kashyap is in the custody of Tamil Nadu police after a Madurai court had remanded him to police custody for questioning.
In the course of the hearing, senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Kashyap, said that he is facing five prosecutions in two states and one offence cannot give rise to multiple proceedings.
Dave urged the court to let the Bihar FIR be the lead FIR and let there be a hands-off approach in other FIRs registered in Tamil Nadu.
“I am being taken to Tamil Nadu where I do not even understand the language,” said the lawyer on behalf of Kashyap.
However, senior advocate Kapil Sibal said that the fake news has resulted in deaths and it is not such a simple matter. He added that Kashyap is already detained under NSA by the Tamil Nadu police.
As the bench said, “We are saying no coercive action till we hear it again”, Sibal said that he is already in custody.
The court said, “We are saying no further coercive action …”
As Sibal sought two weeks’ time to file reply, Dave said that Kashyap was being harassed every day and would be incarcerated in Tamil Nadu.
“How can NSA be invoked… this is astounding… threatening sovereignty of the nation,” he said in a poser.
Dave said, “Please let me (Kashyap) not be taken to other places for production. I am being taken across India from Bihar to Tamil Nadu.”
At this bench asked him to wait for a week.
Justice Sanjay Karol on a lighter note, said that even I am a migrant from Bihar. Justice Krishna Murari remarked this statement speaks a lot now.
Towards the end of February, fake videos making the false claim that migrants were being attacked and killed in Tamil Nadu for speaking Hindi were circulated by some social media handles and even by a some Hindi media outlets.
These were amplified on social media by several leaders of the BJP, especially those from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Although the Tamil Nadu police as well as DMK leaders issued several clarifications and independent fact-checkers called out the fake news, the videos continued to be in circulation, leading to a political slugfest between the BJP and the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu.
Several mainstream Hindi media outlets like Punjab Kesari Bihar-Jharkhand, Dainik Bhaskar, ABP Bihar, and Zee Bihar-Jharkhand aired or printed the news, and pushed the videos on social media as well.
The Tamil Nadu police said on 4 March that cases have been filed against several people, including journalists, for spreading false information. Among those booked were the CEO and editor of the news website OpIndia.
The police formed special teams to apprehend those booked, even as it stepped up vigilance in areas where Hindi-speaking migrants lived in Tamil Nadu.
The Cyber Crime Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police also booked state BJP chief K Annamalai for instigating hatred and violence by peddling disinformation on the migrant workers’ issue, even as the party vice president blamed the BJP and UP arms of the BJP for spreading fake news without verifying it.
