Prayagraj, May 14 The Allahabad High Court has granted interim protection from arrest to YouTuber Gautam Khattar who is facing an FIR by the Uttar Pradesh Police over his alleged derogatory remarks against 'Sri Karauli Shankar Mahadev Baba'.
On a writ petition filed by Khattar against the FIR, a division bench comprising Justice J J Munir and Justice Tarun Saxena, on May 11, granted one week to the state counsel to seek a reply and directed that the petitioner shall not be arrested till May 19, the next date of hearing.
Priyanka Dwivedi, a Kanpur resident, had registered a complaint against Khattar, who is acting as the self-styled founder of the 'Sanatan Mahasangh', for spreading a provocative and hateful message through his social media accounts.
Allegedly, Khattar uploaded a video of the 'Pattabhishek' (anointment) of 'Sri Sri 1008 Purna Guru Sri Karauli Shankar Das Ji Maharaj', also known as 'Karauli Sarkar', as the Mahamandaleshwar of the 'Shri Panchayati Akhada Naya Udasin (Nirvan), Kankhal, Haridwar'.
In the complaint, it was alleged that Khattar made indecent remarks intended to tarnish Maharaj's image and hurt the religious sentiments of his followers.
The petitioner's counsel argued that the alleged speech says that no one should pose themselves as God. He contended that this is no more than an expression of opinion which does not constitute an offence under any law.
It was further submitted that from a reading of the FIR, there was nothing said to demonstrate that Khattar had a deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India by words either spoken or written.
