MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Supreme Court has told India’s top podcaster to stop doing any shows until further notice, days after he was charged with obscenity, legal news website LiveLaw said on Tuesday.
Ranveer Allahabadia, known by his moniker BeerBiceps, has nearly 20 million subscribers on two YouTube channels, and has hosted Bollywood stars, ministers and businessmen on the widely watched podcast.
Last week, police in his western home state of Maharashtra and the northeastern state of Assam charged him with obscenity for remarks on an online comedy show at which he was a guest.
On Tuesday, a panel of two Supreme Court judges granted Allahabadia protection from arrest, and said neither he nor his associates could air any show until further orders, LiveLaw said.
Judges Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh were hearing a writ petition by Allahabadia, 31, seeking such protection and asking for all complaints against him to be clubbed together, it added.
Reuters was not able to reach Allahabadia, and his lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The judges said the podcast host and fitness influencer could approach the police for protection, after his lawyer said his client had received death threats.
Allahabadia appeared on the show “India’s Got Latent”, in which a team of comedians judges newcomers’ efforts at stand-up comedy.
His sallies, such as asking a contestant about watching his parents have sex, prompted outrage on social media, spurring complaints to police.
Allahabadia, who shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an award function for social media stars last year, has since apologised for the comments and the show has been taken off all platforms.
India does not censor online platforms such as Google-owned YouTube, but the family and religious values espoused by its largely conservative society prompt increasing complaints about shows seen to transgress decency norms.
(Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
