On Thursday, the Karnataka High Court granted interim relief to prominent YouTuber Sameer M D by staying a police notice issued to him regarding his video discussing the controversial Soujanya murder case. The court’s intervention came after Sameer and his legal team approached it, arguing that the police notice was arbitrary and legally flawed.

The case revolves around the 2012 rape and murder of 17-year-old Soujanya, a second-year Pre-University student from Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara College, whose body was discovered near the Nethravathi river, with her hands tied to a tree. Santhosh Rao was initially charged with her murder, but he was acquitted by a Bengaluru Sessions Court in June 2023, which led to public outrage and calls for a fresh investigation into the case. Soujanya’s family maintained that Santhosh Rao had been wrongfully implicated, alleging flaws in the investigation and claiming that influential figures,  shielded the true perpetrators.

Sameer’s video discussing the case, which has sparked intense public debate, led to the police notice. His legal team argued that the notice violated procedural requirements and stifled free expression. Advocate A Velan, representing Sameer, argued before the single-judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna that the police had not followed due process and had served the notice hastily, even entering the attorney’s office without proper justification.

The petition also pointed out that the police failed to provide a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) as required by a Karnataka government circular. After hearing the arguments, the High Court stayed the police notice, preventing any immediate action against Sameer.

In response to the viral nature of Sameer’s video, the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, R Hitendra, instructed police officials to remain vigilant and ensure that social media monitoring cells are on alert. Interestingly, the police had not noticed the video initially, which added to the controversy surrounding the case.

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