The Gauhati High Court recently quashed a criminal case against financial influencer Abhishek Kar who was accused of making derogatory remarks about Assamese women on a YouTube podcast last year [Abhishek Kar v The State of Assam].Kar had allegedly stated that in Assam “there is a place where girls practice black magic, witchcraft and can convert human beings into goats and other animals and later, at night, they can convert them back into human beings and establish physical relation to fulfill their lust.”In the case registered in January 2025, various provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Information Technology Act and Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Act, 2015 were invoked against Kar. It was alleged that he outraged the modesty of Assamese women and attempted to promote malicious and disrespectful information about Assamese society.He then approached the High Court seeking quashing of the case.Kar's counsel said he had apologized for the remarks and that he had absolutely no intention to hurt the feelings of Assamese people or Assamese women..Justice Pranjal Das on February 9 opined that none of the penal provisions under which Kar was booked were made out against him. On the charge of promoting enmity between different groups or making imputations prejudicial to national integration, the Court said,“The alleged offending statement of the petitioner clearly does not attract the ingredients of Section 197 of BNS. Further, to attract an offence under Section 196 of BNS also, the act of the accused has to be of such a nature that it promotes enmity between two communities on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, etc.”.The Court also found no evidence to show that Kar’s “controversial” statement was obscene. “Section 67 of the I.T. Act criminalizes the Act of publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form. In my considered opinion, the statement of the petitioner taken on its face value cannot also be said to be attracting the ingredients of Section-67 of the I.T. Act. In the statement, the petitioner has made some controversial remarks, but the same does not necessarily amount to obscenity,” it said.The Court further ruled that Kar’s statement cannot be said to be attributing any label of witch upon the persons he was referring to.“In my considered opinion, one of the important ingredients of the definition in Section 2(g) is that an impression is given that such person called a ‘witch’ has the power to harm anyone in the society at large in any manner. Such an element is missing, in my considered view, in the statement of the petitioner,” the judge opined..Thus, the Court concluded that Kar’s statement when taken at its face value and its entirety, does not attract the ingredients of the penal provisions invoked against him.“Therefore, there was no justification for registering the case under the said penal provisions and as a necessary corollary, there is also no justification in the filing of the charge-sheet against the petitioner under the said penal provisions,” it said, while quashing the entire proceedings as well as the chargesheet..Senior Advocate HRA Choudhury appeared for the petitioner.Additional Public Prosecutor K Baishya represented the State[Read Judgment].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
