Supreme Court Sends Notice Regarding YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani’s Petition Against FIRs in the ‘India’s Got Latent’ Case.
The Supreme Court has today acknowledged a petition from YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani, who is asking to dismiss or move an FIR filed against him in Guwahati. This FIR accuses him of promoting obscenity in an online show. Chanchlani is named in the case alongside podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, who is the main accused due to his controversial comments on the YouTube show India’s Got Latent. Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh have issued a notice regarding the petition and linked it to Allahbadia’s case. During the hearing, the judges mentioned that Allahbadia had received bail from the Guwahati High Court, and both FIRs are related to the same show, where Allahbadia was granted temporary relief earlier this week.
On February 18, the Supreme Court had provided temporary protection from arrest to Ranveer Allahbadia, criticizing his remarks on the show as “vulgar” and claiming he had a “dirty mind” that embarrassed society. The court allowed him to avoid arrest as long as he cooperated fully with the investigation without a lawyer present at the police station.
The Writ Petition challenges the FIR filed at the Cyber Police Station in the Guwahati Crime Branch, Assam. It requests either the dismissal of the FIR or its transfer to Mumbai, where a similar case was filed earlier. The petition states, “Quash the FIR No. 03 of 2025 registered at Cyber PS Police Commissionerate, Guwahati Crime Branch, Assam as it was registered later.” Alternatively, Chanchlani has asked the Supreme Court to move the Guwahati FIR to Mumbai, where FIR No. 05 of 2025 was initially filed at the Mumbai Police Station Nodal Cyber.
On February 18, the Gauhati High Court granted temporary bail to Chanchlani while considering his request for anticipatory bail. The Court instructed him to meet with the investigating officer within 10 days. His lawyer claimed that Chanchlani did not make any inappropriate comments during the show and that the accusations in the FIR mainly targeted the co-accused. The FIR, submitted by Guwahati Police on February 10, includes sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), the Information Technology Act, the Cinematograph Act, and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
Cause Title: Ashish Anil Chanchlani v. State of Guwahati [W.P.(Crl.) No. 85/2025; Diary No. 9116/2025]
