SC to hear on Monday jailed YouTuber's plea against invoking NSA over fake videos

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea by jailed YouTuber Manish Kashyap against whom the stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked for allegedly circulating fake videos of migrant labourers being attacked in Tamil Nadu.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala is likely to hear the plea by Kashyap, who was arrested in Bihar after he surrendered at Jagdishpur police station on March 18 and was later brought to Tamil Nadu where NSA was invoked against him in April.

He faces six FIRs in Tamil Nadu and three in Bihar in connection with the matter.

In its reply to the plea of Kashyap, the Tamil Nadu government has said that multiple FIRs that have been registered in the state against Kashyap are not politically motivated but because he disturbed "public order and national integrity" by circulating fake videos of migrant labourers being attacked in the southern state.

In an affidavit, the state government opposed Kashyap's plea to club the FIRs lodged against him, saying he cannot “seek the shelter of the umbrella of constitutional rights” The state government claimed Kashyap attempted to instigate violence between Bihari migrant labourers and the people of Tamil Nadu through false and unverified videos.

"The registration of multiple FIRs was not done with any political intention, nor to suppress the constitutional rights of the accused, but with the intention to stop the spread of misinformation and to ensure that the person guilty of such offences does not escape from the clutches of law.

"Freedom of speech and expression is not absolute but should be exercised with caution and responsibility. By disturbing public order and national integrity, the accused cannot seek shelter under the umbrella of constitutional rights," the Tamil Nadu government said in the affidavit.

It said the contention that there was a complete abuse of the process of law by registering multiple FIRs is not sustainable.

The due process of law was followed by the police in all the FIRs registered in Tamil Nadu, it said, claiming Kashyap disturbed public peace and tranquillity and created a volatile law and order situation in the state.

A great amount of fear and panic was created among the families of migrant labourers, it said.

The apex court had on April 28, granted time to the Tamil Nadu government to respond to the amended plea by Kashyap.

It had on April 21 directed the state government not to shift Kashyap from the Madurai Central Prison. It had issued a notice to Tamil Nadu and Bihar governments on Kashyap's plea challenging his detention under the National Security Act.

Kashyap had on April 5 appeared before the Madurai district court which ordered that he be remanded in judicial custody for 15 days, following which he was sent to the Madurai central prison.

In his plea before the apex court, Kashyap sought clubbing of all the FIRs registered against him in Tamil Nadu with those lodged in Bihar.

He also said the issue of alleged violence in Tamil Nadu against migrant labourers from Bihar was widely reported in the media, and the petitioner, since March 1, was raising his voice against it by making videos on social media platforms and writing content on Twitter.