On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia to restart his podcast, provided he adheres to ‘standards of decency and morality’.
Allahbadia, along with fellow YouTubers Ashish Chanchlani and Apoorva Mukhija, caught in a controversy over remarks made during an episode of Samay Raina’s show ‘India’s Got Latent’.
A Bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh lifted a previous restriction that had barred Allahbadia and his associates from hosting shows on YouTube or any other digital platform until further orders.
During the hearing, the Bench led by Justice Kant urged Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the country’s second-highest law officer, to explore measures for regulating online media content.
The court observed, “We don’t want any regulatory regime which leads to censorship, but it can’t be a free for all.”
The Supreme Court also directed that Allahbadia’s content must refrain from commenting on ongoing legal proceedings.
Previously, on 18 February, the court had granted him protection from arrest, provided he cooperated with the investigation as required by the authorities.
“The interim protection against arrest is granted further subject to the condition that the petitioner will extend full cooperation to the ongoing investigation,” the court ruled.
Additionally, the court ruled that officials cannot file any more FIRs against Allahbadia for the ‘India’s Got Latent’ episode, apart from the two or three already registered.
Following the controversy, Samay Raina took down all episodes of the show from YouTube, stating that his aim was to entertain rather than offend.
Meanwhile, multiple legal complaints have lodged against popular YouTubers Samay Raina, Ranveer Allahabadia, Ashish Chanchlani, and Apoorva Mukhija, sparking a larger debate about the fine line between comedy and responsible content creation in the digital space.
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