Karnataka HC Stays Police Notice Against YouTuber In Soujanya Murder Case

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to prominent YouTuber Sameer M D by staying a police notice issued to him in connection with his video discussing the controversial Soujanya murder case.

Sameer and his legal counsel had approached the court saying that the notice was arbitrary and legally unsound.

The case against the YouTuber stems from his recent video discussing the Soujanya murder case, a controversial matter that has been the subject of intense public discourse.

17-year-old Soujanya, a second-year Pre-University student of the Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College was allegedly raped and murder on October 9, 2012. Her body was found near the Nethravathi river and her hands were tied to a tree with her shawl.

The police charged Santhosh Rao with the murder but he was acquitted by a Bengaluru Sessions Court on June 16, 2023. Throughout the legal proceedings,

Sowjanya's family maintained that Santhosh Rao had been wrongfully implicated, alleging flaws in the investigation and asserting that Veerendra Heggade, a religious leader from Dharmasthala, shielded the actual perpetrators. The acquittal prompted public protests and renewed calls for a fresh inquiry into the case.

After 11 years of investigation, a Bengaluru court acquitted the lone accused, Santhosh Rao, of all the charges in 2023.

His legal team argued that the police action was an attempt to stifle free expression and did not adhere to established procedural safeguards. Representing the petitioner, Advocate A Velan, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court, contended before the single-judge bench of Justice M.

Nagaprasanna that the police acted in complete disregard of due process. According to Velan, the police not only failed to follow mandatory legal requirements but also entered the attorney's office and hastily served the notice without proper justification.

A key contention in the petition was that the Karnataka government's binding circular required any notice issued under Section 35(3) of BNSS, 2023 to be accompanied by a copy of the First Information Report (FIR). After hearing the arguments, the High Court took note of the submissions and the state government's directive on procedural compliance.

The court granted a stay on the impugned notice, effectively restraining any immediate action against the petitioner. Meanwhile, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, R Hitendra instructed all the police commissioners and the superintendents of police to keep the social media monitoring cells on alert and to report back about the measures taken in this regard.

He also underlined the failure of the social media monitoring cells to notice the video posted by Sameer in connection with Soujanya murder case in his YouTube channel, which has gone viral.

The ADGP also expressed concern over the video, which would lead to law and order situation as people have started discussing it in public.