Ranveer Allahbadia Row: Parliamentary committee takes a big step amid Ranveer Allahbadia controversy, seeks response from IT ministry

A parliamentary committee has taken a big step in the case of derogatory remarks made by Ranveer Allahbadia, who hosts programs on YouTube and other social media. The committee has sought a response from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, citing the use of harsh words by the Supreme Court. The committee asked the ministry to submit a note on the effectiveness of existing laws in dealing with such cases and any amendments required to bring online forums under legal scrutiny.

Is there a need to amend existing laws?

The Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, has written a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry, S Krishnan, on this issue. The letter said, "Given the increasing incidents of misuse of digital and social media platforms, the Ministry of Electronics and IT is requested to send a brief note to this committee on the effectiveness of existing laws to deal with such cases. The ministry should tell whether there is a need to amend existing laws or the IT Act, 2000 to bring such platforms under legal scrutiny.'

The letter also said that the ministry has been asked to submit its note by February 25. The committee asked the ministry to pay attention to the Supreme Court's comment, in which the apex court reprimanded Ranveer Allahbadia.

What did the court say?

Earlier, the Supreme Court had said on Tuesday that it knows that podcaster Ranveer made comments by copying from an Australian program. A bench of Justice Suryakant and Justice N Kotishwar Singh said, 'We are not unfamiliar with the reality. We are aware of this from various sources. We know that he has tried to copy it from an Australian program and from there he has tried to lift the dialogue of an actor.'

Commented in Raina's show 'India's Got Latent'

The bench was hearing the podcaster's petition. A case has been registered against him for controversial statements in a YouTube show. His comment came in comedian Samay Raina's show 'India's Got Latent'.

Supreme Court's harsh comments, Ranveer's arguments

The bench told Allahabadia's lawyer, senior advocate Abhinav Chandrachud, 'He should be ashamed of how much embarrassment he has caused to his parents. What kind of language he has used.'

On this, Chandrachud said that the show is for adults and it can be watched by paying.

Justice Suryakant said that there are some societies where viewers are warned about adult channels and content being unsuitable for some viewers. He also said, 'They take all precautions. These are all copied programs. When you are doing this, you should warn and take precautions.'

The judge said, 'Paid channels are understandable, but you can go to YouTube and anyone can watch it i.e. India's Got Latent.'

On this, Chandrachud said that the controversy arose because some viewers made a 10-second clip of the 45-minute long episode and posted it on YouTube.