The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has turned down comedian Samay Raina's plea to allow him to record his statement in the India's Got Latent row via video conferencing. Officials stated that he will have to record his statement in person on February 18, Tuesday.
Samay, who is currently in the US for his stand-up shows, had stated via his lawyer that he would not be able to return to India before March 17 due to his prior commitments.
But the Maharashtra Cyber Cell has now summoned him on February 18 itself, stating that his statement via video conferencing would not be accepted. The comedian is yet to issue a statement on the summons.
For those unversed, the Maharashtra Cyber Cell has registered an FIR against Samay Raina, Ranveer Allahbadia, Apoorva Mukhija and others, accusing them of promoting obscenity and vulgarity online through the show, India's Got Latent.
The massive uproar erupted after the show came under the scanner for Ranveer's objectionable comment in its latest episode. He asked a contestant, "Would you rather watch your parents have sex for the rest of your life, or would you join in once and stop it forever?"
Samay and Apoorva were seen laughing at the supposed joke, and they too were seen using abusive language throughout the episode. This did not go down well with netizens and they slammed the creators for promoting and encouraging vulgarity online.
On February 12, Samay finally ended his silence and issued his first statement on social media, stating that he had taken down all India's Got Latent videos from his YouTube channel.
"Everything that is happening has been too much for me to handle. I have removed all Indias Got Latent videos from my channel. My only objective was to make people laugh and have a good time. I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly. Thank you (sic)," he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, an FIR has also been filed against the group by Assam Police and team of officers were spotted at Samay's Pune residence a few days ago to issue him a legal notice.
