In a fresh hearing of the case pertaining to the abuse of judges through social media, a Division Bench of the High Court (HC) led by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy on Monday questioned the CBI about the clandestine manner in which ‘Punch’ Prabhakar allegedly continued to share his offensive videos on YouTube and what steps were taken to apprehend him.
The counsel for the CBI told the court that the help of Interpol was already sought and a blue corner notice had been issued to locate Mr. Prabhakar who is purportedly residing in the U.S.A. and has citizenship there.
It was stated that the CBI apprised the Central government of the case and took other necessary steps to trace not only Mr. Prabhakar but also all others who made objectionable comments on the judges through YouTube, Twitter, Facebook etc.
An application has been filed with the Centre for permission to arrest the accused, against whom the registrar general of the High Court had lodged a complaint with the police, the CBI lawyer said. Responding to this, the court directed the CBI to file a detailed counter affidavit by March 21, to which date the case has been posted for next hearing.
It may be noted that the High Court took a suo motu notice of the disparaging remarks made on the judges and said such a vilification campaign could not be taken lightly. The court had earlier observed that the social media intermediaries appeared to be playing hide and seek with it, and gave a stern warning not to violate the laws of the land.
