The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea by jailed Bihar YouTuber Manish Kashyap against whom the stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked for allegedly circulating fake videos that claimed migrant labourers were being attacked in Tamil Nadu. A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala declined to hear the plea. Kashyap was arrested in Bihar after he surrendered at Jagdishpur police station on March 18 and was later brought to Tamil Nadu where NSA was invoked against him in April.


The bench, however, granted Kashyap the liberty to challenge the invocation of the NSA at an appropriate judicial forum. It also rejected the plea for clubbing all 19 FIRs against him and their transfer to Bihar, news agency PTI reported.


“We are not inclined to entertain the plea,” the bench said while rejecting the vehement submissions of senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Kashyap, as quoted by PTI.


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Multiple FIRs Against Youtuber Manish Kashyap 'Not Politically Motivated': Tamil Nadu Govt To SC



Earlier, the top court had granted time to the Tamil Nadu government, represented by lawyer Amit Anand Tiwari, to respond to the amended plea by Kashyap, who is lodged in Madurai jail, Tamil Nadu.


In its reply to Kashyap's plea, the Tamil Nadu government has said that multiple FIRs that have been registered in the state against him are not politically motivated but because he disturbed "public order and national integrity" by circulating fake videos of migrant labourers being attacked in the southern state.


In an affidavit, the state government also opposed Kashyap's plea to club the FIRs lodged against him, saying he cannot “seek the shelter of the umbrella of constitutional rights”. The state government claimed Kashyap attempted to instigate violence between Bihari migrant labourers and the people of Tamil Nadu through false and unverified videos.


"The registration of multiple FIRs was not done with any political intention, nor to suppress the constitutional rights of the accused, but with the intention to stop the spread of misinformation and to ensure that the person guilty of such offences does not escape from the clutches of law.


"Freedom of speech and expression is not absolute but should be exercised with caution and responsibility. By disturbing public order and national integrity, the accused cannot seek shelter under the umbrella of constitutional rights," the Tamil Nadu government said in the affidavit, as quoted by PTI.


The arrested Youtuber faces six FIRs in Tamil Nadu and three in Bihar in connection with the matter.