A YouTube channel has landed in trouble for making a video on AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha who is currently abroad for eye-related treatment. The Punjab Police has filed an FIR against the channel named, ‘Capital TV’, at Shimlapuri police station in Ludhiana. The FIR has accused the channel of defaming the AAP leader and running “misleading content” on the Delhi liquor scam.
The channel had also claimed that AAP has been selling election tickets.
The FIR against ‘Capital TV’ was filed on the complaint of Vikas Prashar. He is the son of the AAP candidate from the Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat, Ashok Pappi Prashar. The complainant has accused the channel of using defamatory and “misleading content”.
According to the complaint, the YouTube channel was running “misleading and scandalous content” against AAP MP Raghav Chadha, who is currently in England. The complaint states that by allegedly equating him with fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, the channel had tarnished the image of the AAP leader.
The complainant Vikas has accused the channel of defaming Chadha by “equating him with Mallya” and of calling “Chadha a Khalistani supporter after he met UK MP, Preet Gill”. The channel has also been accused of spreading “fake news on drug-peddling in Punjab”, and inciting ‘religious sentiments’.
The complainant added that “such videos are disturbing the public peace and harmony and need to be deleted immediately”.
Regarding the case, DCP Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said, “The FIR has been registered on the basis of the complaint. A probe has been initiated.”
Content of the FIR
As per the FIR, the channel made claims that “Vijay Mallya fled to the UK after taking public money, and similarly, a Rajya Sabha member left for England, claiming it was for eye treatment.”
According to the FIR, when Raghav Chadha met British MP, Preet Gill, he was called a Khalistani. It has also accused the channel of spreading fake news on the drug problem in Punjab. As per the FIR, this would increase mutual enmity between different groups and harm public peace and harmony.
The complaint reads, “The statements/contents of false videos on Capital TV channel and others shall harm the public peace and harmony…and is likely to promote enmity between different groups in the country on grounds of religion, caste, race, and community.”
The FIR has been registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups based on religion), 469 (forgery), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadda has been in England for a while. He went there for eye treatment, along with his wife, actress Parineeti Chopra, who later returned to India.
Meanwhile, there has been a lot of turmoil in the Aam Aadmi Party since Raghav Chadha went abroad. Incidentally, AAP National Convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in the liquor scam case, but netizens and political analysts have noted a lack of vocal response from Raghav Chadha regarding these issues.
Nonetheless, a similar action against another YouTube channel was reported earlier this year. In February, the Punjab police arrested YouTuber Rachit Kaushik from Uttar Pradesh on charges of hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity based on religion. However, Kaushik, the founder of Sab Loktantra claimed that he was targeted for “exposing Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government in Punjab”.