Gauhati High Court Quashes Case Against Influencer For Allegedly Linking Assamese Women To Black Magic

The Gauhati High Court has quashed the CID Cyber Case registered against influencer Abhishek Kar for linking Assamese women to black magic in a YouTube video.

Justice Pranjal Das held that the statement attributed to him does not fulfill the essential ingredients to invoke offences under Section 196 (Promoting enmity between different groups) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 67 (publishing obscene material) of the Information Technology Act, and Section 4 (identifying, calling, stigmatizing or defaming any person as a witch) of the Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015.

While dealing with Section 196 of the BNS, the bench observed, “The aforesaid offending statement of the petitioner, in my considered opinion, cannot be said to be one promoting enmity between two communities vis-à-vis the ingredients of Section-196 and the law laid down in Bilal Ahmed Kaloo (supra). Similarly, the statement of the accused/petitioner taken on its face value cannot also be said to be one made with the intention to generate hatred or ill-will between different communities based on religion, race, language, caste, etc.”

“Section 67 of the I.T. Act criminalizes the Act of publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. In my considered opinion, the statement of the petitioner taken on its face value cannot also be said to be attracting the ingredients of Section-67 of the I.T. Act. In the statement, the petitioner has made some controversial remarks, but the same does not necessarily amount to obscenity,” the court added on the applicability of Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

The case arose from an FIR lodged at the CID Cyber Police Station alleging that the petitioner, through a video on his YouTube channel, made derogatory remarks concerning Assamese women, including references to black magic and witchcraft. During the pendency of the petition, investigation was completed and a charge-sheet was filed.

Examining the reproduced statement and the statutory ingredients of the invoked provisions, the Court held that the allegations did not meet the legal threshold required to sustain prosecution.

Expounding on Section 4 of the Assam Witch Hunting Act, the Court said, “This provision of the Act criminalizes the act of identifying, calling, stigmatizing or defaming any person as a witch and it also includes within its ambit the act of instigating or abetting such acts”

Thereafter, going back to the offending statement of the petitioner, the Court opined, “his statement cannot be said to be attributing any label of witch or any label of such nature upon the persons he was referring to.”

“In my considered opinion, one of the important ingredients of the definition in Section 2(g) is that an impression is given that such person called a 'witch' has the power to harm anyone in the society at large in any manner. Such an element is missing, in my considered view, in the statement of the petitioner,” the Court added.

Thus, upon analyzing the statement of the petitioner, vis-à-vis the ingredients of the penal provisions under which the case was registered and charge-sheeted, the Court came to the considered finding, “the statement of the petitioner taken on its face value and its entirety do not attract the ingredients of the said penal provisions.”

“Therefore, the Court said, “there was no justification for registering the case under the said penal provisions and as a necessary corollary, there is also no justification in the filing of the charge-sheet against the petitioner under the said penal provisions.”

Resultantly, the Court allowed the criminal petition and quashed the entire criminal proceedings. Accordingly, the criminal petition was allowed.

Case Title: Abhishek Kar v State of Assam

Case Number: Criminal Petition No. 986 of 2025

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