Allahabad High Court Grants Interim Protection To YouTuber Gautam Khattar In FIR Over Remarks On 'Karauli Shankar Baba'

Hearing Khattar's FIR quashing plea, a Bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena granted 1-week to the state counsel to seek instructions and directed that the petitioner shall not be arrested until May 19, the next date of listing.

Briefly put, the FIR was lodged by a Kanpur resident named Priyanka Dwivedi, who alleged Khattar, acting as the self-styled founder of the 'Sanatan Mahasangh', used his social media accounts to spread a provocative and hateful message.

The FIR alleges that Khattar uploaded a video of the 'Pattabhishek' (anointment) of 'Sri Sri 1008 Purna Guru Sri Karauli Shankar Das Ji Maharaj' as the Mahamandaleshwar of the 'Shri Panchayati Akhada Naya Udasin (Nirvan), Kankhal, Haridwar'. The complaint alleged that Khattar made indecent remarks intended to tarnish his image and hurt the religious sentiments of his followers.

The FIR further alleged that Khattar criticized the ancient Hindu tradition of naming children after deities like Ram, Shyam and Shiva. He allegedly stated that individuals who act like deities should be beaten with shoes at the crossroads.

The complainant has also accused Khattar of having an intent to incite global religious hatred against the Mahamandaleshwar and provoke public unrest.

Acting on this complaint, the Kanpur police booked Khattar under Sections 299, 196, 192, 353, 45, and 302 of the BNS and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.

Appearing for Khattar, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain argued in the HC that all that the alleged speech says is that no one should pose himself to be God. He contended that this is no more than an expression of opinion which does not constitute an offence under any law.

Jain submitted that from a reading of the FIR, there is nothing said to demonstrate that Khattar had a deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India by words either spoken or written.

Jain further argued that Khattar's statements are protected under freedom of speech guaranteed to the citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and they do not offend any law enacted with reference to reasonable restrictions under Clauses (2) to (6) of Article 19.

He also submitted that the impugned FIR does not involve two different groups of persons based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, or language. Therefore, he stated that it cannot be said that feelings were hurt or disharmony or enmity was promoted between them within the meaning of Section 196 of the BNS.

Lastly, it was also submitted that to attract offences relating to promoting enmity, at least two groups or communities must be involved and there must be an element of disturbance of peace and tranquillity, which was absent in the present case.

Taking note of these submissions, the High Court granted 1 week's time to the AGA to seek instructions and directed that the petitioner shall not be arrested in the case until May 19.