Why NSA on YouTuber, SC asks Tamil Nadu government

The Supreme Court on April 21 found the Bihar and Tamil Nadu governments on the same page against a proposal to club multiple FIRs against YouTuber Manish Kashyap and transfer all of them to Bihar.

The Supreme Court on April 21 found the Bihar and Tamil Nadu governments on the same page against a proposal to club multiple FIRs against YouTuber Manish Kashyap and transfer all of them to Bihar.

Mr. Kashyap is accused of spreading misinformation that migrant workers from Bihar were attacked in Tamil Nadu. He has urged the top court to transfer FIRs registered in various parts of Tamil Nadu against him to Patna in Bihar.

Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, the Bihar Government counsel agreed with senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who represented Tamil Nadu, that the FIRs registered against Mr. Kashyap concerned different acts and cannot be combined into one investigation.

The Bihar Government counsel even said Mr. Kashyap was a “habitual offender” and had eight cases against him in the State.

Mr. Sibal explained that the FIRs in Tamil Nadu concerned Mr. Kashyap’s alleged activities when he visited various parts of the State in the guise of interviewing people. Multiple FIRs could be registered in the State as each of them concerned a different act of the man.

However, the court questioned the Tamil Nadu Government about the invocation of the National Security Act (NSA) against Mr. Kashyap, represented by senior advocate Siddharth Dave. Mr. Dave said, at this point, he actually did not even know the whereabouts of his client.

Mr. Sibal responded that the man was lodged in the Madurai Central Prison. “But why NSA, Mr. Sibal?” the Chief Justice asked.