The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court (MHC) granted relief to YouTuber Manish Kashyap and quashed his detention under the National Securities Act (NSA), on Friday, November 10. Manish who hails from Bihar was arrested by Tamil Nadu police for circulating fake videos of Bihari migrant workers being attacked in Tamil Nadu. Madurai HC has, however, directed the cybercrime to continue with their investigation and held that the case will continue to be heard based on the other charges filed against Manish by the Madurai cyber crime police.
During previous hearings, Kapil Sibal who represented Tamil Nadu had justified the charges under the NSA by stating that the video posted by Manish had caused “widespread panic” in the state. The MHC Madurai bench on Friday dismissed the charges and said that the NSA charges were filed without following the stipulated rules.
It is to be noted that Manish was brought to Tamil Nadu on March 28 and was booked by the Madurai Cybercrime. He had previously surrendered at the Jagdishpur police station in Bihar’s West Champaran on March 18.
According to reports, Manish, during an Economic Offences Wing (EOU) interrogation had revealed that he had political ambitions and was anticipating a ticket to elections from Shiv Sena which was later denied to him owing to the communal cases registered against him. He later unsuccessfully contested the 2020 assembly elections as an independent candidate.