New Delhi [India], September 16 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the anticipatory bail plea of YouTuber and social media influencer Ajeet Bharti in a case registered under the SC/ST Act over his alleged remarks concerning Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad.
During the hearing, Justice Saurabh Banerjee observed that Bharti should have been more careful while making the alleged comments, particularly when provisions of a special law were involved.
The court also questioned the Delhi Police about the absence of a notice to Bharti and asked whether his custodial interrogation was required.
The police counsel said that the investigating officer had obtained Bharti’s address only two days earlier and, therefore, no notice could be issued to him before that.
The court also objected to certain words contained in the transcript of the alleged remarks and said that the language used was offensive.
Appearing for Bharti, Advocate Jai Anant Dehadrai submitted that the ingredients of the SC/ST Act were not made out. He argued that an abusive statement by itself would not necessarily amount to an offence under the Act and referred to Supreme Court judgments on the issue.
Dehadrai also submitted that Bharti was against caste discrimination and had expressed his views on reservation. He requested the court to consider the complete context of the video rather than only the portion containing the alleged objectionable remarks.
The court, however, said that at the present stage it was required to consider whether a prima facie case was made out.
The court also said that any comments allegedly made by Chandrashekhar Azad or others, which Bharti claimed had led to his response, were a separate issue. The court said it was concerned with the statements allegedly made by Bharti and the context in which they were made.
The FIR was registered at North Avenue Police Station on August 23 following a complaint by Balakram Bauddh, Delhi State President of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram).
The complaint relates to a video published on Bharti’s social media account.
According to the complaint, Bharti allegedly made caste-related and abusive remarks concerning Chandrashekhar Azad and BR Ambedkar, besides making other allegedly objectionable statements.
Bharti has disputed the allegations and, through his counsel, submitted that the remarks should be considered in the context of the earlier comments allegedly made about his mother and sister.
Bharti approached the High Court after a Patiala House court on September 7 dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. The trial court had held that the material before it prima facie disclosed an offence under Section 3(1)(r) of the SC/ST Act and that the bar under Section 18 applied.