The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed YouTuber Ajeet Bharti to submit details or links to his own videos to the Punjab Police if he wants to know whether any first information report has been registered against him for his allegedly objectionable remarks about Chief Justice BR Gavai.

Bharti, a YouTuber from Begusarai in Bihar who espouses Hindutva views, had moved the High Court in October seeking protection from any coercive action taken by the Punjab Police after media reports claimed that an FIR had been filed against him.

He limited his petition to seeking directions for the Punjab government to inform him whether any such FIR existed, Bar and Bench reported.

The case came following a controversy that began when Delhi-based lawyer Rakesh Kishore attempted to throw a shoe at Gavai on October 7 and accused him of having insulted Hinduism.

Kishore had said that he was angered by the chief justice’s remarks on the restoration of a beheaded idol of Hindu deity Vishnu and on the Supreme Court judgement holding punitive demolitions as unconstitutional.

Later, videos circulating online showed Bharti and two guests on his podcast using abusive language against Gavai and allegedly inciting violence.

On October 27, the High Court had asked the Punjab government to clarify whether an FIR had been registered against Bharti, Bar and Bench reported.

In its response on Monday, the Punjab government told the High Court that the police had taken cognisance of several social media videos containing “abusive and derogatory language” against the chief justice.

However, the state government also said that it was not feasible at this stage to identify who had been named as an accused in those FIRs as the investigation was ongoing.

The state government further submitted that Bharti could email details of his videos to the Mohali Police to ascertain whether he was among those named in any of the cases.

Taking note of this, Justice Subhas Mehla disposed of the petition with a similar direction, stating that Bharti was “at liberty to furnish details of the video uploaded by him on social media to the senior superintendent of police, SAS Nagar [in Mohali], and get details regarding the FIR against him”.

In his petition, Bharti maintained that his remarks had no criminal intent and that his statements were journalistic opinions on matters of public importance, not violations of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989, as some reports suggested, Live Law reported.

He also said that he held “the highest reverence for the judiciary” and added that his comments were intended to “improve the functioning of the system”.

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Attack on CJI Gavai: How casteist assertion throws a shoe at fragile constitutional ideals

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