The Maharashtra cyber police on Tuesday booked YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia for his offensive remarks on parental sex at the India’s Got Latent show, which has sparked outrage and condemnation across the nation.
This is the second FIR against the BeerBiceps podcaster as Assam police had registered one on Monday. The issue made its way to Parliament on Tuesday with Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske urging the government to introduce stricter regulations and guidelines for content on social media platforms.
“Yesterday, influencer Ranveer Allahbadia made derogatory comments against parents. This kind of defamatory content is being freely circulated on OTT platforms, where there are no regulatory checks. They even go as far as disrespecting our gods and goddesses, and this unchecked mockery continues due to the lack of censorship on these platforms,” the MP said.
The National Commission for Women has summoned Allahbadia for a hearing on February 17.
Sources said a parliamentary information technology panel was contemplating a summons for Allahbadia, who had received the Disruptor of The Year Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inaugural National Creators Awards in 2024. The Maharashtra police have invoked Section 67 (transmission of obscene material in electronic form) of the Information Technology Act, among other sections.
Sources said the police had booked 30 people for the crass language used during the show. “We have registered a case against 30 individuals, including artistes, hosts, judges and participants, of all six episodes of India’s Got Latent. They will soon be summoned to join the probe,” said a police officer, adding that a Mumbai police team had gone to Allahbadia’s residence on Tuesday to hand over the summons.
Several social media users, who condemned Allahbadia’s remarks, have also flagged broader issues, asking why similar swift actions are not seen when it comes to politicians. In a post on X, Anish Gawande, the national spokesperson for NCP(SP), said: “The National Human Rights Commission took more than two months to acknowledge the horrific incident of women being paraded naked and assaulted in Manipur. In contrast, it wasted no time pressurising YouTube to remove Allahbadia’s video.”