The Supreme Court of India, on April 28, directed the release of YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia’s passport. His passport had been deposited earlier as a condition for staying his arrest in cases registered under charges of obscenity linked to his remarks during the show "India’s Got Latent".
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh passed this order after being informed that investigations in the FIRs filed in Assam and Maharashtra were complete. The Court allowed Allahabadia to approach the Maharashtra Cyber Crime Bureau for retrieving his passport.
"You may apply to the Maharashtra Cyber Crime Bureau for release of your passport," the bench directed.
During the hearing, Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, appearing for Allahabadia, requested the Court to club the Assam and Maharashtra FIRs. He argued that both cases arose from the same event. However, Justice Surya Kant disagreed, stating:
"Why should a person who claims to be a victim in Assam be forced to come to Maharashtra?"
Chandrachud referred to the Amish Devgan case, where FIRs from different places were consolidated by the Court. However, the bench clarified that it would consider this request during the next hearing.
In a related matter, the Court noted that Cure SMA Foundation had filed a separate writ petition regarding offensive remarks made by comedian Samay Raina against persons with disabilities. Earlier, the Foundation had sought to intervene in Allahabadia’s case, but the Court had suggested filing an independent petition. Now, the bench allowed them to serve notice to the private parties through the Mumbai Police Commissioner.
It is important to remember that Allahabadia was earlier asked by the Supreme Court to deposit his passport at Thane Police Station as a part of conditions for getting interim protection against arrest.
Earlier this month, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Court that the investigations into the FIRs were nearing completion. The Court had then decided to take up Allahabadia's request for passport release once investigations concluded.
At a prior hearing, Allahabadia's plea was adjourned by another week because investigations were still ongoing. During the hearing, Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud flagged concerns about a press conference held by Maharashtra police officials, where they allegedly made prejudicial comments against Allahabadia, suggesting his guilt before a chargesheet was filed.
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The controversy started when clips from comedian Samay Raina’s YouTube show "India’s Got Latent" went viral. These videos, featuring explicit sexual references related to parents, sparked widespread outrage. Besides Allahabadia, YouTubers Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, and Apoorva Makhija were also part of the controversial episode.
"The comments were inappropriate, and I sincerely apologise," Allahabadia said after backlash.
Following the outrage, Raina publicly apologized and deleted all episodes of the show from his channel. Allahabadia also issued a public apology.
On February 10, Guwahati Police registered an FIR against five YouTubers under charges of promoting obscenity. Similar cases were also registered by the Maharashtra Cyber Department and Jaipur Police.
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Seeking to quash or club the FIRs filed in different states, both Allahabadia and Chanchlani approached the Supreme Court. Allahabadia was granted interim protection, but with restrictions like not airing his shows. Justice Kant had severely criticised Allahabadia's comments during the hearing, calling them:
"Dirty and perverted."
Later, the Court lifted the restriction on airing "The Ranveer Show" after Allahabadia promised to maintain standards of decency and morality in his content.
Meanwhile, Ashish Chanchlani secured interim relief from the Gauhati High Court. His request to quash or club FIRs is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Case Title:
(1) Ranveer Gautam Allahabadia vs Union of India & Ors, W.P.(Crl.) No. 83/2025
(2) Ashish Anil Chanchlani vs State of Guwahati & Anr, W.P.(Crl.) No. 85/2025
