The Delhi High Court Thursday granted anticipatory bail to actor Ajaz Khan, booked for making sexually explicit remarks on social media against the mother and sister of YouTuber Harsh Beniwal. Khan was booked in April over a tiff with Beniwal after posting a video with sexually explicit remarks against his family members under Section 79 (intending to insult a woman’s modesty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and IT Act’s Section 67 (publishing obscene material) at the Cyber Police Station. He was booked in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged on a complaint by the mother of YouTuber, actor and comedian Beniwal. “When the speech crosses the line into insult, humiliation or incitement, it collides with the right to dignity. The free speech should therefore not trample on the dignity and vice versa,” Justice Ravinder Dudeja observed. In September last year, Beniwal posted a parody video, A Day With Najayaz Bhai, on his YouTube channel, which was purportedly a dig at Khan. Khan reportedly retaliated with a reaction video through his official social media handles, wherein he uttered sexually explicit remarks against the complainant and her daughter. He had then posted another video issuing threats. While granting anticipatory bail to Khan, the court recorded, “.one should cautiously use social media before posting any content, as it might adversely affect not only the particular individual but their respective fans also at the same time.” “Before parting, just a word of caution for those using social media. The internet has made knowledge easily accessible by intensifying its circulation. With this, however, it has also brought a large audience of every age group,” Justice Dudeja said. “Thus, any content on the internet is porous and accessible to a large audience. Every content on the internet must be uploaded with great caution, especially when the uploader has a large audience and exercises influence in society,” Justice Dudeja added. "When the speech crosses the line into insult, humiliation or incitement, it collides with the right to dignity. The free speech should therefore not trample on dignity and vice versa."
