NEW DELHI: Influencer Ranveer Allahbadia, in the eye of a storm for his recent alleged offensive comments on social media, on Friday moved Supreme Court objecting to Assam Police registering an FIR against him for his unsavoury remarks despite Mumbai Police already inquiring into it.
For Allahbadia, whose petition was e-filed before SC at 2.37 am, advocate Abhinav Chandrachud requested a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar for an early hearing. When the CJI told him that he would decide listing of the petition as soon as possible, Chandrachud apprehended that Assam Police may resort to coercive action despite Mumbai Police already conducting an inquiry.
The bench reiterated the standard operating procedure – send a request for urgent listing through email to be dealt with appropriately by the registry.
Allahbadia cited the judgment in the case of Arnab Goswami, which was authored by a bench headed by former CJI D Y Chandrachud, where multiple FIRs on the same incidents (lynching of sadhus in Gadchinchle village of Maharashtra’s Palghar district in Apr 2020) were ordered to be consolidated at Mumbai. Multiple FIRs were registered against Goswami in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand and even in J&K.
SC website does not indicate any date of hearing in Allahbadia’s writ petition. Mumbai Police had said it was inquiring into the matter without registering an FIR. However, Assam Police has registered FIR against five people, including Allahbadia and comedian Samay Raina, for the alleged offensive remarks made on a YouTube show. The petitioner has already tendered a public apology for his remarks.