SC allows Ranveer Allahbadia to resume his podcast with conditions

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia to resume his podcast 'The Ranveer Show' subject to maintaining 'morality and decency' and making it suitable for viewers of all ages.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh observed Allahbadia's submission that the podcast was his only source of livelihood and about 280 persons he employed depended on the show.

"Subject to the petitioner furnishing an undertaking to the effect that his whole podcast shows will maintain desired standards of decency and morality so that viewers of any age group can watch, the petitioner is permitted to resume 'The Ranveer Show'," said the bench.

The court, therefore, modified its February 18 order barring Allahbadia and his associates from airing any show on YouTube or any other audio or visual platform.

The bench, during the hearing, took exception to those writing articles on freedom of speech and expressions post its February 18 order and observed it was adept in dealing with the matter.

"We know that some briefless people are writing some articles in the name of freedom of speech and expression. We know how to handle them also. In this country there is nothing like a fundamental right on a platter. The fundamental rights all flow by a duty and unless those people want to understand their duty, then we know how to deal with those kinds of elements," Justice Surya Kant said.

The court said if somebody wanted to enjoy fundamental rights, the country gave a guarantee to enjoy but also guaranteed it with a duty.

"So that guarantee will involve a guarantee for performing that duty. So we know what kind of anyway we are quite hopeful and we are quite sure that some repentance (is there) about what they have done," the bench said.

Allahbadia, popularly known as BeerBiceps, faces multiple FIRs for his comment on parents and sex on comic Samay Raina's YouTube show 'India's Got Latent'.

The bench, however, restrained Allahbadia from airing any programme of his podcast which had a direct or an indirect bearing on the merits of the sub-judice cases he was involved in.

His prayer for travel abroad would be considered once he joined the probe and his presence was not required in the cases registered against him, it added.

The bench also extended the interim protection from arrest granted to Allahbadia till further orders, while asking him to join the investigation in Guwahati.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and Maharashtra and Assam, said the comments made on the contentious YouTube show 'India's Got Latent' was not only vulgar but also perverse and urged the court not to modify the condition of not airing any show.

"Let him remain silent for sometime," he said.

The bench told senior advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, who was representing Allahbadia, the court was confident and expected his client to exhibit some repentance.

Justice Surya Kant pointed out one of the accused in the case went to Canada and spoke on the case.

"One of his colleagues thinks, these youngsters are oversmart and we are probably an outdated generation and one of them has gone to Canada and what he has spoken there is well known to us. They don't know what kind of jurisdiction this court has. We don't want to show it because they are young and hope they will behave like responsible people. Otherwise we know how to deal with these people," Justice Surya Kant said.

Mehta said he was also aware of the remarks made by one of them but did not want to rake it up unnecessarily.

"He was actually making sarcastic remarks. He was making fun of the proceedings in this court," Mehta said.

Chandrachud clarified his client had no connection with the remarks of the person whom the court had referred to.

The top court also expanded the scope of the proceedings and directed the Centre to come up with a draft regulatory mechanism on social media content.

"We have suggested the solicitor general to deliberate upon and suggest such a regulatory mechanism which does not impinges upon the right of free speech and expression but at the same time is also effective enough to ensure the parameters of such fundamental right as stated in Article 19 (4) of the constitution," the bench said.

Any draft regulatory mechanism, the court said, could then be brought in the public domain to invite suggestions from all the stakeholders before taking a legislative or judicial measure on the subject.

"Society to society the moral standards vary...We have guaranteed ourselves right to speech and right to expression but these guarantees are subject to certain riders. We don't want any regulatory regime which eventually leads to censorship," the bench told Mehta.

The top court then listed YouTuber Ashish Chanclani's plea for clubbing of the FIRs along with a similar plea of Allahbadia.

On February 18, the top court granted interim protection from arrest to Allahbadia while calling his comments "vulgar" and saying he had "dirty mind" which put the society to shame.

Aside from Allahbadia and Raina, others named in the case in Assam are comics Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Makhija.